


The Black Spirit

by FreakOfYourNature



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: A Character Knows About the Show, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character A in Universe B Shenanigans, Characters are probably OOC, Gen, Ghost is a wee bit overprotective of Zuko, Graphic Description, Graphic Imagery, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, It's magic - I aint gotta explain shit, It's the Abyss, Kinda, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Minor body disphoria, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ozai's A+ Parenting, Post-Embrace the Void Ending (Hollow Knight), Tags May Change, The Author Has Headcanons, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Author Wrote This Instead of Being Productive, The Pale King's A+ Parenting, Updates are random, We All Know What's Down There, Zhao (Avatar) Is An Asshole, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko being secretly soft, Zuko's Scar (Avatar), author's first fic, do not reupload my shit without my express permission, ghost totally gives no shits about copyright laws, lookin at you Zhao, lots and lots of headcanons, minor amounts of body horror, moderate amounts of swearing, move out the way ursa - zuko's got a better mom now, no beta - we die like men, not on zuko's end though - it's everyone else being horrified ;D, please be kind, they/them pronouns for ghost, touch him and die, zuko finally getting some of that sweet sweet parental love and affection, zuko is aroace, zuko is totally a closet theater kid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 158,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27033535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreakOfYourNature/pseuds/FreakOfYourNature
Summary: Zuko beheld an enormous stone door, carved with a symbol that resembled a tree, or perhaps a crown. It was weathered with age, and near the bottom of the door, there was great rent in the stone, creating a hole just big enough for someone of his size to squeeze through. It was odd though, that the hole looked like it was made by someone smashing the stone in from the other side…almost like something broke through from the other side and escaped.
Relationships: Ghost & Zuko, Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), The Knight/Grimm (Past)
Comments: 524
Kudos: 574





	1. Stare Into the Abyss

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, All!  
> This is my first ever fic, so please be nice in the comments! Constructive criticism is welcome, but flames and insults are not. Please be respectful of others or I will be forced to close comments. Please do not demand updates or I will be less motivated to write, I am doing this for fun, after all! Kudos and reviews are welcome! I try my best to keep characters in character, and if you have tips on how to do that please share them! I also have many headcannons about things in both fandoms, especially Hollow Knight, so you'll probably see those at some point. If you don't like my story, that's fine! No one's obligated to read this, so if you don't like it, please hit the back button instead of leaving nasty comments. Please enjoy!

Zuko beheld an enormous stone door, carved with a symbol that resembled a tree, or perhaps a crown. It was weathered with age, and near the bottom of the door, there was great rent in the stone, creating a hole just big enough for someone of his size to squeeze through. It was odd though, that the hole looked like it was made by someone smashing the stone in from the other side…almost like something broke through from the other side and escaped.

Belatedly, he noticed a large egg-shaped stone tablet beside the door. When he neared it, a series of white, glowing glyphs lit up its surface. Before he could even begin to examine the markings in detail however, they dissipated into thin air. Let behind, though, was an imprint of a voice in his mind. Wispy and ethereal, the voice was barely a whisper and he had to strain to hear the words clearly.

_"Our pure Vessel has ascended. Beyond lies only the refuse and regret of its creation. We shall enter that place no longer."_

What that meant, he had no idea, but it certainly sounded ominous. As he continued to examine the tablet, he noticed a series of odd black stains that bore great resemblance to the glyphs from before, it was almost like the writings were made by two different individuals, like handwriting. However, there was no voice when he attempted to decipher them, this time. Instead, the markings seemed to rearrange themselves into readable script before his eyes! Intrigued, he began to read, but only became more unsettled the longer he continued.

**Rebuke onto you, Pale King!**

**Your refuse cries out with ten thousand shrieking voices!**

**Your regret is our grave, your denial is our tomb!**

**Forever restless, for you denied us our peace!**

**There will be no forgiveness for your sins!**

**Your soul will be forever stained black with the blood of the innocent!**

**Our shells lay scattered forever, dashed upon the rocks by your hand!**

**May the Light take you, and damn you to a thousand burning deaths!**

**Tis a better fate than we would grant you!**

**To all those seeking refuge from that cursed burning light,**

**Leave this forsaken tomb to its still silence**

**It is the only peace we shall ever know**

**Despair, despair and lament the burning fate your King has abandoned you to**

**For only the Void awaits you now**

**Abandon all hope, ye who enter here**

Now thoroughly creeped out, he turned to leave, but hesitated. This was the most interesting thing he’d found in the temple, sequestered away behind a series of twisting cavelike passageways, which were themselves hidden in the basement. While the language was slightly off, maybe the tablet was describing the Fire Nation and the Avatar forsaking the Air Nomads? What lay behind that great stone door? Was it the skeletons of the Air Nomads? The temple had been suspiciously laking in corpses, especially taking into account the amount of bones he found in the other three temples.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” he muttered, and with a squaring of his shoulders, Zuko gathered his courage and climbed through the hole at the base of the door.

Now Zuko hadn’t really known what to expect, but near absolute darkness wasn’t it. He could hardly see his own hand in front of his face! He lifted a palm and prepared to call flame to his hand as a light source, but then he felt an odd sensation. It was like he was being watched by many eyes and it was unsettling. We wondered if it was the spirits of the Air Nomads scrutinizing him from beyond the grave. He figured if it _was_ the spirit of the Air Nomads, fire probably wouldn’t be very welcome. He decided against using his fire to light up the surroundings, and all of the sudden, the ambient light level inexplicably rose. Not by much mind you, but enough to see a small ways in front of him. Zuko startled slightly at the sudden change in visibility, but told himself it was just his eyes adjusting.

Now, contrary to popular belief, his vision wasn’t overly impaired after his accident. While his scarred eye was set in a permanent squinted glare, he could see out of it just fine. While his father had banished him from the Fire Nation, he was sent off with one of the best burn specialists in the Capital as his ship’s doctor, and so while his recovery was long and painful, he was never in life-threatening danger. His father had wanted to teach him a lesson, not kill him!

(Unknown to Zuko was the fact that his uncle had pulled many strings to acquire such a skilled surgeon, instead of being left with the greenhorn medical student his father had arranged for.)

Zuko looked around and blanched upon realizing that there was only a tiny ledge on the other side of the door, and past that was a sheer drop off into the darkness. Cautiously, he peered over the edge, and caught sight of a small outcropping just above the endless dark expanse below. Strangely, it didn’t appear to be attached to anything, it was seemingly just floating midair.

 _Probably just the top of a small hill_ , Zuko reasoned.

It wasn’t that far down from the ledge he was on, and so he tensed his legs and dropped down onto it. When he looked up from the platform, he could barely make out the faint light shining through the gap in the door from the ledge above him. When he looked down, he could make out a second platform further down from him, but again, it appeared to be floating in midair as well. 

Alarmed, he dropped to his stomach and crawled to the edge of the platform before leaning his head over the edge to attempt looking at the underside. To his horror, he found that the platform was indeed floating on nothing but air. He quickly scrambled back from the edge and attempted to rationalize what he saw.

_H-how is the platform floating?! It must be some kind of spirit thing...oh Agni, did I accidentally cross into the Spirit World?!_

Now, normally this would not be the first conclusion that someone would jump to, but Zuko's uncle had famously made a trip to the spirit world in search of the spirit of his dead son, Lu Ten, so Zuko didn’t discount the possibility. Against his better judgment he quickly stood up and called fire to his hand. Immediately he could tell that this was a mistake. The presences he had sensed earlier became fearful and agitated and Zuko could feel the force of a much larger presence begin to stir. The darkness that had let up earlier quickly returned in full force and the temperature plummeted. Zuko's breath fogged in the air around him and he shivered at the abrupt temperature change. Zuko immediately extinguished the fire in his hand and hoped it would be enough to calm whatever spirits he had angered.

“I’m sorry!” he cried out, “I meant no disrespect!” he continued on, babbling a bit in nervousness. “I just wanted to see, it’s too dark in here!”

Almost immediately, the larger presence seemed to retreat or perhaps go back to sleep, and the smaller ones seemed to calm down. Then, the cavern lit up more brightly than before, and Zuko could now see a fair ways down. He still couldn't see the bottom but he could make out a few more platforms, at least. The cavern was much bigger than he ever thought it was; there were many platforms leading downward, but he still couldn't see the bottom. 

“Do you...want me to go down there?” he asked, tentatively. “I will leave if that is what you desire, I don’t wish to upset you,” he said, and it was true, for after hearing the spirit tales of his uncle, Zuko had a healthy respect for the spirits and had no desire to end up on one’s bad side, especially ones that seemed to have power over his surroundings. 

The small spirits’ agitation appeared to recede after Zuko’s declaration, and instead they felt curious. Zuko swallowed nervously and began descending deeper into the pit, hoping that he’d get to go back to his ship alive at the end of the day. He sent silent apologies to his uncle during his descent. 

The smaller presences only grew stronger as Zuko went further down, and he began to make out a voice in the distance. At first it was too quiet to understand, but it gradually grew clearer the further down he went. It echoed in his head, much like the tablet voice from earlier, and he soon realized it was actually many different voices speaking over one another. They were children’s voices.

_What is it? Does it come to play? Tall thing! Strange thing! Bright thing! Tastes like fire! Warm!_

The voices became louder and Zuko nearly let out a shriek at the sight of a dozen pairs of white, glowing eyes peering at him from the darkness. He immediately went very, very still as the eyes drifted closer. 

They emerged in pairs, always pairs. Strange dark ghosts floated out of the endless expanse of black outside of the small bubble of light he was in. The ghosts were clinging to each other, like they were terrified of being alone. Zuko understood that feeling intimately. 

Zuko examined them further, trying to place why they felt familiar. They seemed to consist of a fairly round, featureless head with some combination of horns jutting from the sides. Their bottom halves appeared to be tattered tendrils or perhaps a cloak of some kind? They kept their distance and merely observed him, whispering.

_So tall! It wears armor! Is it a knight? A noble knight? Is it on a quest? No mask! Where is it’s mask? Is it a Faceless? No, it's got a face, I think? Strange face! Soft face!_

The ghosts whispered excitedly and some drifted closer to peer curiously at his face. Zuko felt self conscious about his scar, but strangely, for all their talk about how weird his face was, they never mentioned the scar. They seemed more curious about his armor and why he didn’t have a mask on. As they didn’t seem malicious, Zuko decided to answer some of their questions as he continued to descend even further down. He could no longer see the entrance.

“No, I’m not a knight, we don’t really have those anymore, but I am on a quest to capture the Avatar to restore my honor,” he stated. “I do have a mask, but it’s just for theater, and it's back on my ship, anyway,” he continued. This only seemed to excite the ghosts more. 

_What is theater? Is it fun? What is an Avatar? Can you eat it? Is it tasty?_

Zuko had finally reached the bottom of the pit, but was distracted by the ghosts. He nearly laughed out loud as he heard the last few questions, but his mirth was cut short when he realized that these spirits didn’t know who the Avatar was. Then, he had another thought. 

_These spirits look and act like small children, maybe they haven’t been taught about the Avatar yet? The other presence feels much older, it definitely doesn’t belong to the children, maybe it has more information?_

Zuko’s musing was again cut short when he finally reached the floor of the massive pit he was in. He was about to look around for the source of the powerful presence from earlier, when he accidentally stepped on something laying on the floor of the pit. It made a dull snapping sound. Zuko froze. He knew that sound. That was the sound of old bones being stepped on. 

He cast his gaze around the pit and when he finally realized what he was looking at, it took all his willpower to not puke. The bottom of the pit wasn’t covered in white stones like he’d originally thought. They were skulls. The shapes matched those of the ghosts’ heads. Those were children’s skulls. They were not human skulls perhaps, but that hardly mattered to Zuko. The ghosts were clearly children of some description before they died, and now Zuko was standing on their grave. Tens of thousands of skulls were piled everywhere. The floor, up against the walls, packed on top of each other. There was no bare floor. He was left standing on them, for there was nowhere else to stand. Tens of thousands of empty pleading sockets stared out blankly into the darkness. 

When he froze and gasped in horror, the ghosts seemed to freeze as well. Slowly, one by one, the eyes dimmed before the ghosts curled up on themselves and retreated into the skull-covered ground. Zuko was left alone in the darkness, suddenly terrified that he had been tricked and was now going to die for accidentally desecrating a mass grave.

“Wait!” he cried, “Don’t leave me alone down here!” his cries echoed into the suddenly empty cavern. He could faintly make out the children’s voices, only this time they spoke as one.

**_Find the sea… they want to meet you… biggest sibling wants to meet you..._ **

The sea? What sea? He was probably miles underground! And who was ‘biggest sibling’? Were all the ghosts siblings? That would make sense, the skulls looked very similar to each other.

Suddenly Zuko was overcome with a strange feeling. Everything else seemed to fade away except for the need to find this mysterious sea. Another voice seemed to call out to him, dark and powerful, but without words. Zuko was helpless to resist it.

Zuko mechanically made his way forward, oblivious to the snapping of tiny skulls below his feet. As he made his way forward, the voice grew louder until it echoed like thunder in his head. He felt like he was in a trance, powerless to stop himself from doing what the voice commanded. This was the voice of the presence he felt earlier, unbelievably powerful and ancient beyond his imagining. In the fog of his mind, he wondered if the spirit knew anything about the Avatar’s whereabouts. He’d disappeared almost a hundred years ago, and the spirit certainly felt old enough to have been around before then.

He suddenly felt himself stopping and his mind cleared from the fog. Zuko was immediately on guard, frightened by what he had just experienced. He was like a passenger in his own body, but not fully awake and aware either. Zuko found it strange that he had stopped before drowning himself in the not-water of the black sea he’d found himself standing before. In the spirit tales, the men always walked into the water and drowned themselves so the spirits could eat them.

Zuko looked out on the shore of an unbelievably black sea. It wasn’t water, he knew. Water didn’t ripple like that. Off to the side he noticed an immense structure of whitish stone. It looked like a lighthouse, but the top had been destroyed with extreme prejudice. It was almost completely torn off the rest of the building, and it looked like it had been ravaged by a wild beast. There were great rents in the solid rock and they resembled claw marks, but ones so massive Zuko couldn’t imagine what sort of creature could make them. He had a sinking suspicion he was about to find out, though. That’d be just his awful luck.

Suddenly the whole chamber seemed to shake, the clattering sound of tiny skulls shifting behind him, and the dark sea churned furiously. It seemed to ripple violently before suddenly rising up, up, up…

Eight white eyes the size of Zuko’s entire body opened upon a massive horned face. Immense shoulders were adorned with equally massive spikes and four long arms slammed into the floor near him, knocking Zuko to the ground. He gazed up on the massive being and tried not to wet himself, absolutely sure he was about to be crushed or eaten or both. 

The massive, multi-horned face moved closer to him quicker than anything that big had any right to move. It’s head was mere feet from his before a many-layered voice shook the cavern, although no audible noise was made. Foreign and alien words drilled themselves into his skull as the being interrogated him.

**_[Query.] [Purpose?]_ **

They were not words, per say, but thoughts or concepts that were being shoved into his brain. They were so loud. Louder than anything Zuko had ever heard before, even though his ears were only detecting the steady drip, drip, drip, of the black not-water flowing off of the massive creature before him. He took several moments to collect his thoughts, but the being seemed very willing to wait as long as it took.

“I w-was investigating the t-temple f-for clues about the Avatar,” he managed to get out, gradually getting his breathing under control. _It wouldn't do to show too much weakness in front of such a powerful spirit_ , he thought.

The spirit retreated a small bit, no longer right in his face, and it seemed to peer at him in confusion.

**_[Confusion.] [Query.] [Embodiment?]_ **

Immediately Zuko became angry. He’d ventured all the way down here, hoping for clues on the Avatar, and here he was, about to be eaten by a giant, ancient spirit monster that didn’t even know what the Avatar was? Momentarily forgetting himself, he yelled at the spirit. “What do you mean you don’t know what the Avatar is?! He’s the World Spirit, the bridge between the mortal and spirit realms! I have to capture him to restore my honor!”

Zuko immediately regretted his outburst and prepared to beg for his life (again), though he didn’t think the spirit would be as merciful as his father. 

Unknown to Zuko, the Shade Lord was reminded of memories acquired many human lifetimes ago. Memories of curling up in front of a TV with their father and watching a show called _Avatar: The Last Airbender_. For before the Shade Lord, there was Ghost the Vessel, and before that, there was a young human, barely out of teenagehood, with a big heart and a head full of dreams. The Shade Lord had mostly forgotten about their life as a human, which had been tragically cut short by a drunk driver with not enough sense to call a cab. 

They had first gained access to these memories shortly after they had Ascended, but at the time had not deemed them important. They could barely remember that life or being human for that matter. Until the memories reminded Ghost of who Zuko was, they’d entirely forgotten what a human even looked like! They had spent so much more time first as Ghost, and then as The Shade Lord, God of Gods. 

Their previously forgotten memories suddenly seemed much more important, now. They tried to recall all they knew of the once-beloved show. Strangely, the more it tried to grasp onto memories of the show, the other, more personal details of their human life seemed to fade. But their memories of previous acquaintances and preferences as a human still held no importance now. They needed knowledge, facts, details! They let the other extraneous personal memories flow from their mind and be forgotten forever. 

The Lord of Shades returned their attention to Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, Son of Ozai and Ursa. They had plans. Many plans. But first they needed to get Zuko to stop bowing face down in the dirt, begging for his life that they had no plan of threatening anyway. Oh, this would be the most fun they’d had in literal eons!


	2. And The Abyss Stares Back Into You

**_[Cease.] [Understanding.] [Forgiveness.]_ **

**_[Query.] [Search.] [Trajectory?]_ **

Zuko froze before stiffly standing out of his frantic bowing position. “W-what? I don’t understand...” Zuko’s mind was whirling with more questions, but he held his tongue.

**_[Exasperation.] [Query.] [Destination?]_ **

“Are you asking me where I plan to go next? To look for the Avatar?” Zuko still didn’t understand very well what the spirit wanted from him, but it didn’t really seem hostile anymore. He was quickly becoming frustrated with the lack of clear communication.

**_[Affirmative.] [Curiosity.] [Exploration.] [Desire.]_ **

“You...want to explore?” Zuko chanced a guess. Finally, Zuko could stand it no longer and exclaimed, “Arg! This would be so much easier if I could understand you better!” 

**_[Apology.] [Understanding.] [Frustration.]_ **

“You don’t like it either, huh?” Zuko suddenly felt a bit bad for the spirit, “Are you stuck here in this cave? Is that why you want to explore?”

**_[Negative.] [Longing.] [Exploration.] [Eternity.]_ **

Zuko was about to remark on that, but suddenly the spirit seemed to stand straighter, its eight massive eyes widening further. It swiftly turned its attention to the ruined tower and sort of flowed through the sea of black not-water to appear next to it. Zuko was again about to say something, when the spirit, using all four of its massive arms, started rifling through the rubble of the top of the tower, shifting stones out of the way. It tossed a few of the larger pieces into the not-water below, before it seemed triumphant.

Then, moving so quickly, it seemed to come apart and blur at the edges, the massive being appeared before Zuko again, shoving its face closer in excitement.

Zuko was so shocked at the sudden movement that he fell backwards onto the ground again. The creature raised one of its arms above him in a closed fist, and Zuko, frightened again, curled up on himself with his arms raised to protect his head. He closed his eyes and waited for the end, but the end never came. He slowly uncurled and found the spirit looking at him sadly. The hand that was extended before slowly uncurled and dropped something small at his feet.

Zuko then felt bad that his first thought was that the spirit had suddenly decided it wanted to kill him. Aside from the initial encounter where the impact of its arms threw Zuko to the ground, it had not taken aggressive actions against him, even after he had yelled at it quite rudely.

He grabbed whatever it was off of the ground and examined it, turning it over and over again in his hands. It resembled a dreamcatcher made out of some silvery metal that was warm to the touch, but it had an odd protrusion on one end that almost resembled the hilt of a sword, but that made no sense.

Standing up and feeling quite foolish at the question he was about to ask, he said, “Is this some kind of weapon? It has a handle like a sword…”

Surprisingly, the spirit appeared almost...proud?

**_[Pride.] [Affirmative.] [Wielder.]_ **

Zuko confusedly grasped it by the handle firmly and swiped it in front of him, not really expecting anything to happen. So, imagine his surprise when a blade made of shining light materialized out of the dreamcatcher portion, humming loudly and vibrating slightly in his hand before fading into nothingness.

Zuko nearly dropped the thing in surprise, but managed to maintain his grip. “What kind of weapon is this?!” He exclaimed, before cautiously swinging it again, which again produced another ethereal blade of light. 

**_[Dreamnail.] [Awakened.] [Communication.] [Understanding.]_ **

“You mean this thing will let us communicate easier? How? And what in the name of Agni is a ‘Dreamnail’?” Zuko questioned. Then a thought struck him, and he swiped the handle in front of him again, but this time he carefully touched his hand to the blade. It passed right through the blade of light as if it wasn’t there, but strangely, his own thoughts seemed to echo in his head. “Do I strike you with it?” He questioned.

**_[Affirmative.] [Painless.]_ **

The creature then presented Zuko with one of its massive hands. Zuko glanced at the spirit again, as if to be sure, but in its face he found only gentle patience. He swallowed his fear and passed the ghostly blade through the massive appendage.


	3. Conversations With A Ghost

Foreign thoughts and concepts echoed through his mind at a pace faster than he could follow. An odd tingling sensation in his head quickly evolved into a fierce headache, before it suddenly vanished.

“What was that?! You said it wouldn’t hurt!” Zuko exclaimed, feeling slightly betrayed.

**_Apologies, out of practice!_ **

The soft voice echoed strangely in his head, much quieter than the thundering voice of before.

“Is that you?”

**Yes! Worked perfectly! [Happiness!]**

“Wow, uh, you sound a lot different. Quieter.”

**Apologies for loudness! Hard to talk with non-void bugs, too much power for small things.**

“I am not a bug! I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation!” he yelled heatedly. Just because this being was so much more powerful than him didn’t mean he was a bug!

 **Not a bug?** The Shade Lord then remembered that humans were not considered insects, but mammals.

“No! I’m a human!”

 **Strange. Before, only bugs were blessed with higher thought by Pale King.**

The being then seemed to be overcome by anger and stared off into the middle distance. 

**_[HATE HIM!] [HATE!] [HATEHATEHATE!]_ **

“Woah, okay, calm down! There’s no one here but us!” Zuko frantically tried to calm the suddenly furious spirit. “I saw a disparaging message about him on the stone tablet by the door, I’m guessing that was you?” Zuko tried to distract it. It seemed to work, since the spirit was no longer shaking in rage and the quiet voice returned.

**[Guilt.] Many apologies! Not your fault… Just get so angry thinking about Him. And yes, Pale King was real bastard!**

“Oh, uh, that’s okay, I’ve got someone I hate that much, too. He’s an asshole named Zhao that loves to make my life hell.”

**[Understanding.] Arrogant too? Thinks they’re the best thing ever? That they’re never wrong?**

“Yes! Exactly! He’s such an asshole! Guess some things are universal, then?” Zuko gave a small chuckle at that thought. “Oh, I never asked what you’re called!” Zuko used that wording specifically because it was never wise to ask a spirit their True Name. Or give out your own, now that he thought about it...oops. 

**Name is Ghost! Am Lord of Shades! Not King of anything anymore, Kingdom gone forever, but did conquer Godhome and Ascend! [Pride!] Very hard, much fighting!**

The spirit either didn’t know or care about that rule, since they immediately gave out their Name in return. Maybe they were trying to be fair? And those titles were certainly something…

“You were a king once? And what does Ascending mean? It sounds important.”

**[Sadness.] Was King of Hallownest for a while, retrieved King’s Brand from the Cast-Off Shell of Pale King...not that there was much Kingdom left to rule over...Stupid Old Light fighting with Pale King over territory and who got the most worshippers. [Anger!] Pale King was coward! Refused to fight head on, knew he was too weak. Old Light was dream goddess, caused dream infection...almost everyone died, then came back as husks that killed uninfected. Pale King made plan to contain Old Light...created children, many children. Abandoned them into the Abyss to make them empty, so they could imprison Old Light. No Mind to Think, No Will to Break, No Voice to cry out Suffering! No dreams, nothing to infect. Had to return from wandering wasteland after escaping Abyss to free Hollow. They were chosen to contain Old Light, but were suffering. [Mourning.] All other siblings left to rot. [Anger!] Not deemed useful enough to keep around. Hollow not really empty, only pretended, to make King happy. Plan failed, Old Light not contained, She escaped, kind of, infected and killed rest of Kingdom.**

“Sweet Agni...” Zuko breathed, suddenly grasping who exactly the Pale King was to Ghost, but they weren't even done.

**Came back, Hallownest in ruins, infected husks wandered everywhere, killing those left alive. Adventured long time, gathered Dreamnail, Awoke it. Unified the Void under my Will. Gave it Focus. Used Dreamnail to enter Godhome to find Her most powerful form, defeated the Pantheons there, killed the remaining Gods of Hallownest, battled Old Light. [Smug.] Kicked ass, Ascended into Lord of Shades, God of Gods! Ate Old Light, no more infection. Hornet, half-sister, freed Hollow. Was tired after, don’t know what happened to them. Went back to Abyss to rest, When woke up, everything different, no more Hallownest, only Abyss was still same. Stayed here, sleeping, playing with shades of siblings. [Mourning!] Could not find Hollow or Hornet. Hope they okay...or lived nice lives…**

Zuko was entranced by the tale, it sounded just like some of the more dramatic theatre scrolls he would read as a child. Suddenly his stomach growled and Zuko flushed in embarrassment. 

_How long have I been down here?_ He thought to himself. _Oh shit! Uncle must be going nuts trying to find me!_

“That’s some tale, and I’d love to talk more with you, but I have to leave! My uncle is still in the temple, he’s probably worried sick about me!”

Ghost suddenly seemed to slump.

**[Sadness.] [Longing.] [Minor Envy.] Must be nice to have family who care for you...**

“Oh..uhh, I didn’t mean to make you sad,” Zuko stumbled awkwardly over his words. He never really knew how to handle other people’s emotions. He hoped to Agni that Ghost wasn’t about to start crying.

**Only person to come down here ever...will miss you...**

“Uhhh, I’ll visit!” He exclaimed, “I still need to talk to you about the Avatar, how about I come back tomorrow?”

**[Happiness!] Yes, talk more later! Maybe bring uncle? Sounds nice, want to meet also!**

“Um, I’m sure he'd love to, but it was hard enough for me to get down here, and uncle is really old, he can’t jump down here like I could.”

**Oh...will make stairs! Uncle can come visit then?**

“Sure, if you can get some stairs built by tomorrow, he can come down to meet you. Oh, but the door was still kind of shut when I snuck in here, there was a hole I crawled through.”

That seemed to confuse Ghost.

**Door not supposed to be shut...**

“Well, anyway, I should get going, it’s probably dark out...”

**Dark out? Why? Should not be that long, Time moves funny in Abyss, sometimes might be same day, might be months from when entered.**

“MONTHS?!” Zuko screeched, “What if Uncle thinks I’m dead?!”

Ghost seemed taken aback.

**[Alarmed!] No worry! Void defies time, if too late, I turn back clock! Like you never left, only minutes gone!**

That calmed Zuko down some, but alarmed him in other ways. _What manner of spirit is powerful enough to defy time? How strong is Ghost?_

“Well, thank you for that I guess, but it’s still going to take me forever to climb out of here…” Suddenly the slant of Ghost’s eight eyes took on a smug look somehow, even though nothing about their face changed.

No sooner had he said that, then the cavern walls began to shake. There was a sound like stone grinding on stone, a lot like earthbending actually, and the floating stone platforms flowed like water and reconfigured themselves into a massive spiral staircase stretching far overhead.

Zuko gaped, just a little, and asked incredulously, “Are you an earthbender, too?!”

**[Amusement.] No, but the Abyss obeys its God and Master. Can do anything down here.**

Zuko simply nodded, he’d had too much crazy stuff happen to him today to really give that much of a crap anymore. Agni, he needed sleep.

He waved goodbye to Ghost and began the arduous climb, but no sooner had he started his march upwards than he found himself stepping onto the ledge at the top.

 _Nope, don’t think about it,_ he told himself. _Just keep going. Find Uncle. Find a bed, go to sleep. In that order._


	4. Conversations With A Ghost 2: Electric Bugaloo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter edited 11/25/20 to better reflect ghost and grimm's relationship

Zuko was exhausted. True to the spirit’s word, it seemed as if Zuko had only been gone a handful of degrees of the sun, but for Zuko, it felt as if the trip had taken many hours. While it took almost no time at all to find his uncle, explaining everything that had happened to him took considerably longer. And many pots of tea. Sweet spirits, so much tea. He could tell that his uncle didn’t really believe him until Zuko brought out the Dreamnail, at which point he proceeded to freak out that Zuko had met such a powerful spirit and agreed to go back into its lair--and bring Iroh with him!

Zuko got lectured at for an almost record time, only beaten out by that time he decided to climb the cliffs leading to the Eastern Air Temple without a safety rope, but honestly that rope would have taken forever to set up!

At any rate, Iroh had agreed to meet the spirit, if only so that it wouldn’t be offended. Uncle hated being rude to anyone but the most deserving. (cough, cough, _Zhao_ , cough) Zuko already had to talk his uncle out of trying to bring his portable tea set with him, explaining that he’d need a teapot the size of his ship, the _Wani,_ to brew enough tea to satisfy a creature so large. Uncle had immediately looked wistful at the thought of being able to make so much tea at once. Zuko had a feeling that his uncle would manage to smuggle a tea set down into the Abyss, anyway.

* * *

The next day, Zuko awoke with the sun as usual, and after getting ready for the day, went to fetch his uncle. Surprisingly, his usually late-sleeping uncle was already packed and ready to go. Together, they set off for the basement of the Southern Air Temple where the entrance to the Abyss was located.

* * *

Upon arriving at the now open door to the Abyss, his uncle stopped to marvel over the glowing tablet, the moving Void-text, and expressed much concern over the ominous message imparted by it.

“So this is the entrance, then?” Iroh questioned, looking to his nephew for confirmation.

“Yes, and it’s going to be dark as Koh’s Lair at first, but once Ghost notices we’re there it should brighten up. And whatever you do, don’t use any visible firebending, it makes the siblings nervous.”

“Siblings?” Iroh questioned.

“Yeah, the little child spirits, didn’t I tell you about them?”

“No.” Iroh stated, very much Not Impressed.

“Oh, uhh, must have slipped my mind...” Zuko said nervously.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Iroh said tiredly.

With that they descended into the dark. Zuko was right about the chamber brightening up a bit after a small bit of time had passed. Iroh once again expressed surprise, and remarked, “This is nothing like my journey to the Spirit World...”

Once again, even though it seemed as if they’d just started their descent, the pair already found themselves at the bottom of the pit. Iroh gazed around in horror at the mounds of small child-like skulls that covered the ground.

“Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction, too. Strange that we haven’t seen the siblings yet, they were pretty curious about me last time.” 

As if summoned, dozens of pairs of eyes lit up the darkness. Iroh sucked in a startled breath.

“Ah, there they are,” Zuko stated, master of The Obvious.

The siblings drifted closer, and began talking over each other like last time, taking a particular interest in Iroh this time.

_So big! Another tall thing! The bright one returns! Does it bring friends to play? It has funny face fluff! Much more fluff than smaller thing!_

A brave sibling drifted forwards and slowly approached Iroh. “Can I help you, little one?” he said kindly.

The sibling said nothing, before quickly darting forward to pass a tendril of darkness through Iroh’s hair, before it darted away even quicker, giggling. The other siblings quickly joined it, retreating deeper into the dark, still giggling.

_So soft! Soft fluff!_

Iroh only started slightly before relaxing again, also laughing. “They really are just children, aren’t they, Nephew?” He seemed saddened then, “A tragedy they died before they even had a chance to live…”

Zuko only nodded sadly before continuing forward, “Come on Uncle, Ghost is further in. Try not to walk too heavily.” He nodded at the bones that made up the floor.

Not long after that, the duo arrived at the shore of the Void Sea and Zuko called out to Ghost while standing on the bank. “Brace yourself, they’re loud at first, you’ll have to use the Dreamnail on them to fully understand them,” Zuko warned.

Like last time, the Sea churned furiously before stretching up and coalescing into the immense form of the Shade Lord. Like last time, Ghost’s voice was thunderous without actually making any sound.

**_[Greetings!] [Happiness!] [Reunion!]_ **

Ghost stretched out a hand, offering themselves to be struck by the Dreamnail. Zuko went first, grip and stance confident. When he turned around to hand off the nail to his uncle, he almost laughed out loud at the expression on his uncle’s face. He looked like he’d been slapped with a wet fish, only for the fish to then turn around and insult him verbally. In other words, absolutely flabbergasted, with his mouth hanging open just a bit. 

Zuko had to walk over and physically press the handle of the Dreamnail into his uncle’s slack hand.

Iroh seemed to shake himself out of it a bit before walking forward and passing the ethereal blade through the offered hand of the spirit. He only winced a bit after that, it seemed Ghost was getting better at that.

**[Happiness!] Can hear okay? Nice to meet you! Am Ghost, Lord of Shades!**

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Ghost,” Iroh managed.

Zuko took back the Dreamnail and turned to Ghost, “Now, what can you tell us about the Avatar?”

Iroh shot his nephew an incredulous look, “Prince Zuko, I doubt a spirit would be aware of what is going on in the physical world, especially given the Avatar disappeared a hundred years ago.”

No sooner had Iroh expressed his doubt did Ghost reply.

**[Triumph!] Don’t know where they are now, but know where they will be! Ghost knows future sometimes! Only good things Ghost got from Pale King was occasional foresight and amazing good looks!**

Zuko ignored all the other things Ghost said, and immediately demanded the Avatar’s location.

**[Hesitantly.] Can’t find Avatar until season of midnight sun in South Pole, is frozen in ice for a hundred years. Airbender named Aang, has a very protective flying bison Named Appa. Is very childish. Ran away from home when told he was Avatar, never wanted responsibility of world on shoulders. [Commiserating.] Know how that feels…**

Zuko was listening with rapt attention, having pulled out a small notebook and was frantically taking notes.

“Do you know where exactly he’ll be? The South Pole is a big place. B-but what you’ve given me already is more than I’ve been able to dig up in two and a half years!” Zuko said quickly, trying to avoid looking ungrateful, but he was practically vibrating in his need to go back to his ship and sail to the South Pole right that second. Iroh meanwhile was standing off to the side, brewing in his suspicion.

“What is ‘midnight sun’ exactly?” Zuko asked curiously.

**Is thing that happens only at poles of world, sun never sets, is visible all the time. Happens during polar summer, opposite happens during polar winter. Sun never rises then, is dark all the time. [Amazement.] No sun ever sounds lovely, darkness everywhere…**

Both Zuko and Iroh felt their inner flames stutter at the thought of the sun vanishing forever. Suddenly they were both very nervous about letting Ghost know they were firebenders, and that their entire culture revolved around the sun and its patron spirit, Agni.

Suddenly, Ghost seemed to remember who they were talking to.

**[Realization.] Oh, but would never try to get rid of sun! Sun needed by others. Just prefer darkness is all. Too much sun is uncomfortable, not deadly or harmful, just too bright. Agni seems nice though, nothing like Old Light. She was spiteful bitch.**

Both firebenders breathed a sigh of relief. Then Zuko seemed to process what Ghost had said and had to bite off a laugh at Ghost calling some ancient light goddess a spiteful bitch.

“Well, that’s a relief. As firebenders, we need the sun to fuel our inner flames,” Iroh stated, curious as to what Ghost’s reaction to that fact would be, now that Iroh was assured the spirit probably wouldn’t be hostile. It seemed to like his nephew a great deal. Iroh approved of anything that would benefit his nephew, and the friendship of an ancient spirit of darkness sounded like one hell of an asshole deterrent if you asked him.

Ghost seemed to freeze at that before they seemed to puff up in happiness and slump in melancholy, somehow at the same time.

 **[Joy!] [Remembrance.] [Melancholy.] Oh, how lovely! Am so fond of fire, creates such wonderful shadows. My Beloved, Named Grimm, was Nightmare King. Grimm danced so lovely with Ghost, even gave Ghost Grimmchild, called him Little One. Collected flames for ritual, then danced with Grimm last time. Gave Little One to Hornet to look after when went off to kill Old Light. Battle was dangerous, didn’t want Little One to get hurt. [Mourning.] [Grief.] Miss him so much, but he's gone like all the rest.** **Turned to dust while slept.**

Now Zuko didn’t know how to unpack all of that, but his uncle did so enthusiastically.

“You were a parent as well?”

Ghost seemed to perk up at this.

**Yes, didn’t want to be like Pale King at all, didn’t know how to be good parent, but tried really hard. So much love to give. Little One was so loved. Little One was last gift of my Beloved. Fed him flames, took him on adventures to far ends of kingdom, would return to visit Grimm occasionally, dance together, fight together, help Little One be better fighter. [Longing.] What Ghost wouldn't give to dance with Grimm one last time...  
**

Zuko was beginning to think that ‘dance’ was a euphemism for something else entirely, and by the disgustingly sappy look on his uncle’s face, so was he.

**[Apology.] Went off in tangent, you wanted to know about Avatar more, yes?**

Zuko nodded enthusiastically.

**[Apology.] Not much more to tell. Has only mastered airbending before being frozen. Will be close to Southern Water Tribe. Tribe full of innocents, no trained warriors or waterbenders left, Fire Nation took them all in raids long ago or they left to fight in war.**

At this, Zuko felt slightly guilty. “I promise that after I capture the Avatar, there won’t be anymore raids on the Southern Water Tribe. It sounds like they’re not a threat anymore, I’ll convince my father to stop the raids once my honor as Prince of the Fire Nation is restored.”

At this declaration, Ghost gave him an intense stare that felt like they were weighing his soul. After a few nerve wracking seconds, Ghost relented.

 **[Serious.] Make sure that you do.**

With that, Ghost’s massive form seemed to retreat away from them, going further away from the shore, deeper into the Void Sea.

 **[Regret.] Have no more information to offer you. [Hope.] Will you come to visit after you restore your honor? Will miss you.**

The sheer amount of careful hope in their voice tore at something in Zuko. He’d had that same sort of hope once, too.

“I promise,” Zuko vowed.

With that, Ghost nodded sadly and their form lost cohesion, turning back into liquid Void that merged seamlessly with the rest of the Void Sea. Both Zuko and Iroh turned to leave, but Zuko couldn’t help but look back into the darkness once they had arrived at the threshold of the doorway to the Abyss. 

_I promise_ , he whispered to himself in the quiet of his own mind. _I promise._

Neither of them noticed that Zuko’s shadow was much darker than it had any right to be. Eight white eyes flashed before they vanished.


	5. Confrontation At The South Pole

It was finally time. After almost six months of waiting and sailing deep in the southern hemisphere, polar summer had finally arrived in full swing. They were far enough south that the sun hadn’t set for a few days, and both Zuko and the firebending crewmembers were full of restless energy. Zuko was even more snappish than usual. He was taking his restless energy out on his crew while training his firebending. 

His uncle kept trying to get him to calm down and drink tea, and Zuko would resist and yell that he didn’t need any calming tea, and that what he needed was to capture the Avatar. Soon after his declaration, a wave of spiritual pressure passed over the  _ Wani  _ and her crew, before a massive beam of pale blue light burst into existence in the sky.

Zuko immediately shouted at his helmsman to change course towards the light as his heart thundered in his chest. It was time.

* * *

Ghost had been right. The Avatar was right where they said he’d be, hiding amongst the pathetically small Southern Water Tribe. Ghost had also been right when they’d said that there were no trained warriors left to defend the village. The one teenage boy that had charged at him was pathetically easy to take down, although Zuko had underestimated him a little, and had gotten smacked in the back of the head by a metal boomerang for his mistake. Thankfully, he’d been wearing his helmet, so all he got for it was a slight bruise, but it was still humiliating to be taken off guard like that.

Regardless, he was only slightly disappointed when the Avatar had proved laughably easy to capture. All Zuko had to do was throw a little fire around and make some baseless threats and the Avatar had surrendered in exchange for sparing the village, not that he would have done anything to the village even if the Avatar had refused. Ghost had said that the village was full of innocents, and they were right. Zuko refused to harm non-combatants that had zero stake in the war, not that the Tribe or the Avatar had known that, though.

Things were finally looking up for Prince Zuko! Soon he would be home, he’d get his honor back, and he’d have finally proven himself a worthy son and earned his father’s love. Yes, everything was going perfectly.

* * *

Things were going terribly. The Avatar, that coward, had gone back on his promise to come quietly. How could he?! How dare the Avatar go back on the terms of his surrender! If Zuko didn’t desperately cling to what little honor he had left, he’d have gone back and burned the village to the ground! 

To make matters worse, during his escape, the Avatar’s flying bison he’d forgotten existed, had turned up and was attacking his crew! Ghost had warned him it was protective of its master, but he’d forgotten that fact as well in his excitement. 

Just when Zuko thought it couldn’t get any worse, the Avatar got knocked overboard and entered the fabled Avatar State. It was even more powerful than Zuko had anticipated. The Avatar had unleashed master-level waterbending at them and was now easily winning the fight. Zuko tried to dodge a massive wave of water, but misjudged his jump and was subsequently launched overboard into the freezing ocean.

Zuko desperately tried to undo the ties of his heavy metal armor, but the freezing cold had numbed his fingers into uselessness almost immediately. He continued sinking, and his lungs were screaming for air. Zuko fought to reach the surface with all his might but it was impossible. Just when he was about to give into despair and drown, eight massive, familiar eyes opened in the darkness.

* * *

Ghost was furious. If they hadn’t decided to sneakily follow behind Zuko’s ship after he’d left, Zuko would be dead! They quickly coalesced into their massive Lord of Shades form and snatched the sinking form of Zuko to their chest before bursting above the surface. Although they almost never made actual audible noise, they were absolutely capable of it, and they used this ability to express their extreme displeasure of the situation by firing off an upgraded form of the Abyss Shriek spell they called ‘Void Voice’. 

It was exactly what it said on the tin, and to most mortal ears, it sounded like the simultaneous tortured screams of a thousand damned souls. In other words, absolutely  _ shit-your-pants-terrifying _ .

Their massive form burst above the ocean surface, clutching Zuko to their chest with one of their arms and screaming in rage at the Avatar and friends.

**_[RAGE!] [ANGER!] [NO-ONE-HURTS-MY-FRIENDS!]_ **

A terrified cry of, “Sweet La, what the fuck is that?!” came from the Water Tribe boy. Even the powered up Avatar seemed to have a poleaxed expression on his face.

Ghost cared not what they thought, and furiously swiped their two upper arms at the flying bison. It dodged, just barely, before swooping down to catch the Avatar, who appeared to have lost his grip on the Avatar State at the sight of their massive form. The bison, cargo secured, began to fly away from the  _ Wani _ and the fearsome beast protecting it as fast as it could manage. It was quite fast indeed, although not quite fast enough to avoid getting a gash on its tail from Ghost’s angry claws.

The bison bellowed in pain but kept up the pace. The Avatar gave a scared cry of “Appa!” when the beast was struck, but did not re-enter the Avatar State. As they flew away, Ghost gave them a parting shot of an extremely overpowered Shade Soul spell, just to make sure they left and knew how angry they were. It detonated above and slightly behind the flying bison, and its passengers all made terrified screams at the sight of it. It appeared as though the Avatar had tried to deflect the incoming spell with a blast of air from his glider-staff, but the spell was completely unaffected. Luckily for them, Ghost wasn’t aiming to kill. If they were, the group would have been dead several times over. The God of Gods did not bow to something as paltry as gravity, and could have given aerial chase if they wanted to. Fortunately for the Avatar, all the Shade Lord was interested in was making sure Zuko was okay.

* * *

The crew of the _Wani_ was too busy gazing up at the massive eldritch monstrosity currently holding their Prince and captain hostage to give one whit of attention to the fleeing Avatar. 

Then, they were confused at the fact that the beast seemed to be...fretting(?) over the Prince’s condition. The Prince, in turn, was trying to assure the nightmare creature that he was fine, he hadn’t inhaled any water, he was a firebender, he can warm himself up, and could you please put him down now! 

The beast appeared reluctant to let the Prince go, but after some reassurances from General Iroh that he would assure that Zuko was properly taken care of, the beast relented and very gently set the Prince down on the cold, wet deck of the  _ Wani _ . It calmly gazed down at the rest of the crew with its eight massive eyes, a stark contrast to the way it was screeching death and murder at the Avatar a few moments ago, but seemed mostly focused on watching the Prince.

“Umm, sir? Permission to speak freely?” Came the hesitant voice of one Lieutenant Jee.

“Granted,” the Prince said tiredly.

“What the fuck is that, and why are we all not dead?”

Prince Zuko huffed out a steaming breath of fire and answered, “That’s Ghost, they’re who we found in the basement of the Southern Air Temple that let us know where the Avatar would be in six months.”

“Uhh, how would it know where the Avatar would be six months from when you were at the Air Temple? Sir.”

“Oh, Ghost can see the future,” Came the Prince’s easy reply.

Absolute dead silence on the deck. Suddenly, Ghost grabbed the front of the ship, dug their claws in and used their immense physical strength to pull the ship forward a few hundred feet. Their claws bent the metal of the ship’s bow out of place, but just before Zuko could yell at them for damaging the ship, the side of the iceberg that the  _ Wani _ had been idling next to gave a loud crack. Large chunks of ice began to fall into the ocean, right where the Wani had been a few moments ago. 

“Okay, I believe it now,” Came the incredulous voice of another crewmate. A low thrumming sound seemed to reverbarate through the ship, and Ghost’s shoulders were shaking slightly. Ghost was laughing.

* * *

It took a few hours for Ghost to un-bend the bow enough to let the ship sail in a straight line, but they would need to stop at a port to get the damage completely repaired. Zuko was only slightly angry, since they would have been stopped for far longer than a couple hours if the falling ice had hit the ship. The damage to the bow would be cheaper to fix as well, so Zuko couldn’t remain all that upset at Ghost over the damage, but they seemed to feel guilty about it anyways.

**_[Apology.]_ **

That was another thing. Ghost couldn’t get that close to the ship in open water, the waves and rocking would inevitably throw one into the other, causing more damage to the ship, which both parties wanted to avoid, so Ghost kept their distance. Unfortunately, this meant Zuko couldn’t get close enough to use the Dreamnail on them again, which greatly reduced Ghost’s ability to communicate with both Zuko and the crew, who were still incredibly nervous about Ghost being anywhere within several hundred miles of them.

The crew still occasionally threw looks the Prince’s way. They had no idea how such an angry, bristly teen could have tamed such a powerful spirit into not immediately murdering them all. Someone had started a rumor that the Prince had some kind of spirit powers, and Jee was sceptical, but the idea seemed to hold more weight after someone saw him swinging around a shining blade of light in his quarters after he forgot to shut the door once.

* * *

**Meanwhile, with the Gaang**

All three teens sat in terrified silence after what they had just witnessed, but for different reasons. Sokka was having trouble processing that 1) Aang was the Avatar, 2) he was on a giant flying fluffy snot monster, and 3) that spirits were apparently very real and very willing to kill him. Katara was also in shock that Aang was the Avatar, and offended that he didn’t feel the need to share such vital information, and was also wondering if her decision to leave home to go to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending was worth almost dying at the hands of a massive spirit monster not fifteen minutes after she left. 

Aang was silent because he was scared to death of the angry spirit that had attacked him. He could literally feel the anger and malice it was projecting after it emerged. He was also scared for Appa. The monster had tried to kill them all with very little hesitation, and had hurt Appa.

Aang felt he should be more mad at the spirit for that, but he was just grateful that they all escaped with their lives. None of his past lives had ever encountered a spirit so powerful that it could manifest itself so solidly in the physical world while still retaining such an immense form. 

Usually, when a spirit decided to manifest itself in the physical world, it had to take on a much feebler form. Even the Moon and Ocean spirits, Tui and La, had to take on the forms of mere koi fish to remain in the physical realm, and they were among the most powerful spirits out there!

The giant black spirit didn’t seem to follow those rules though, and that had his past lives worried. If they didn’t know what that thing was or how to fight it or calm it down, Aang didn’t feel like he had a snowball’s chance in the Si Wong Desert of ever beating that thing, even in the Avatar State.

* * *

“Guys, we need to land soon, Appa’s hurt and he can’t fly for too much longer,” Aang told his companions. Appa bellowed lowly in agreement.

“Alright then, I think Gran-Gran packed us a map in here somewhere…” Sokka said, digging through their bags to find it. “Ah-ha! Here it is! This is the same map that Gran-Gran used when she came down from the Northern Water Tribe,” he declared, pulling out a worn-looking map of the world. He gave the map a quick once over, easily determining the best path to take. “Looks like the closest landmass is the Patola Mountains, but the closest friendly settlement is Kyoshi Island.”

“What about the Southern Air Temple? That’s closer and I’m sure the monks will help us out!” Aang said excitedly. Sokka and Katara shared a sad look.

“We don’t have enough supplies to bandage Appa’s wound, we need to go to Kyoshi Island if we wanna get him treatment,” Katara argued. Then, Appa suddenly seemed to wobble in the air before losing a few dozen feet of altitude. The Water Tribe siblings held each other and screamed in fright. Appa stabilized quickly but let out another low bellow of pain.

“He needs to land  _ now _ , so Patola Mountains it is!” Aang said, trying to calm everyone down and comfort his bison at the same time. 

Within minutes, a landmass came into view, and Appa made a beeline for the shore of a desolate-looking beach. Appa landed heavily on the sand before dropping to his belly and bringing his injured tail around to lick at it. Flying for so long after he’d been injured had done his wound no favors. It had bled heavily, all the fur around it had become matted with blood, and Appa’s licking had only made it start bleeding more.

“Appa, no!” Aang cried. “You’re making it worse! Katara, can you help me clean it out? I don’t want him to get an infection, can you bend some water to help wash it out? I’ll try to keep him calm.”

Katara nodded shakily. She had helped Gran-Gran bandage minor wounds back in the village before, but she had never seen so much blood coming from one creature. She knew how to waterbend wounds clean, but never ones of this scale. She went to the shoreline and bended some freshwater out of the salty sea water. 

If there was one thing she knew how to do well, it was separating fresh, drinkable water out of the ocean.

She carefully bended a large-ish amount of water over toward Appa’s tail. Aang had gone around to his face and was stroking it gently and telling him everything would be fine.

Katara took a deep breath to calm herself, “Alright, I’m ready, this will probably sting though, there’s not much I can do about that.” Aang just gave her a nod and went back to holding Appa. She bent the water into the wound slightly to clean it out, but Appa started thrashing in pain. She had to stop for a bit so Aang could get him to calm down again. She just hoped that this could be over with quickly and that Appa would heal just fine. She thought about how nice it would be if Appa had magic Avatar powers that could heal him. After she thought that, the water she was bending began to glow a pale blue and the wound began to close.

Katara was so startled, she accidentally let go of her bending and the bloody water splashed all over the rest of Appa’s tail, soaking the fur and making an even bigger mess.

Sokka, who had seen the whole thing, exclaimed, “What was that?! Katara, your weird magic water powers never made anything glow before!”

Katara was too busy staring at the wound on Appa’s tail to pay her brother much attention, though. The wound was still there, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before. It looked a couple weeks old now, even though Appa had only gotten it a couple of hours ago.

“Woah, Katara that was amazing! I didn’t know you could do that!” Aang seemed over the moon that Appa’s wound was now much less severe and was no longer bleeding.

“I didn’t know I could do that either,” She said, breathless with wonder. She stared at her hands. What else was she capable of, she wondered.


	6. What Do You Mean My Elder God is Going Through Puberty?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol, I had fun writing this chapter! All the nice comments motivated me to write much sooner than I had expected! I'm glad everyone seems to be liking this story so far, it seems we're in this for the long haul folks! No Gaang in this chapter unfortunately, but this chapter was already getting kinda long for a non-action one, anyway. Enjoy Ghost accidentally causing chaos by trying to be helpful!

While Zuko wanted more than anything to sail full steam ahead and chase the Avatar, the safety and wellbeing of his crew came first. These men had stuck with him for three full years on what was essentially a wild goose-duck chase all over the world in search of a long-lost legend and they hadn’t mutinied yet. Zuko was captain of the _Wani,_ and so the health and safety of these men was his responsibility. 

Zuko also knew that suddenly having an ancient spirit monster tag along on a now no-longer-impossible quest to capture the Avatar might be asking them for just a bit too much. While he certainly didn’t want to have any of his men leave, he planned on making an announcement once they got to port that if they wanted to leave, they could. Zuko would send them off with a glowing recommendation letter, too, for whatever a disgraced prince’s word was worth.

Unfortunately, the nearest friendly port they could stop at to get repairs also happened to be frequented by Zuko’s least favorite person ever, Zhao. Zuko just knew that if word got out that the Avatar had escaped on his watch, Zhao would use that to make his life hell. He couldn’t allow Zhao to know that the Avatar was alive, so he’d use the excuse that ice had fallen on the _Wani_ and that was why they needed repairs. It was almost true as well, so Zuko would have an easier time at trying to sell that lie, and he needed all the help he could get in that department. His prodigy sister had inherited all the lying skills as well as all the good luck, it seemed.

There was also the issue of what they were going to do about Ghost. They were enormous and could probably be seen from miles away, and them following the _Wani_ and her crew to the port was just a laughably bad idea. 

Zuko also knew Zhao was obsessed with spirits, and Zuko didn’t want to know what kinds of schemes Zhao would try to pull if he knew that Ghost existed and was apparently extremely protective of Zuko.

Something stupid like trying to take Zuko hostage to make Ghost do his bidding sounded just like something he’d try and pull. 

Zuko was wracking his brain trying to figure out a way to get Ghost to let them go to port and repair the ship without following them and inevitably causing a scene. Him not being able to get close enough to Dreamnail them was also a problem because negotiating things with Ghost when he wasn’t able to fully understand them was an exercise in futility. He tried anyway.

“Ghost!” Zuko shouted at the massive shadow beast dutifully trailing behind the ship some distance away. “We need to go to port to repair the ship, and you can’t come with us, people will see you and panic!”

**_[Refusal!] [Danger!] [Obligation.] [Protect!]_ **

“You are not obligated to protect me! I can protect myself just fine!”

Ghost gave them a flat stare and shook their head.

**_[Drowned!]_ **

“I was not drowning! I would’ve been fine!”

Ghost gave a small shriek and slapped the water in disagreement.

“Ugh! This is impossible! Stupid ocean with its stupid big waves!” he yelled. “If you were smaller this wouldn’t be a problem!” Zuko stormed back inside, planning on faceplanting into his bed and screaming in frustration into his pillow. Or burning something. Burning things usually helped, but Uncle always gave him such disappointed looks when he did that. Screaming into a pillow it was.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ghost had heard Zuko remark on the difficulties resulting from their large form. While they had never tried to compress their form into a different shape for any longer than a few moments at a time, it couldn’t hurt to try, right?

First they needed to figure out what size would be acceptable for blending in with the humans. Obviously, their new form needed to be able to fit on the ship, but they didn’t want to go back to being the size of a regular Vessel, because then everyone was taller than them! They’d never be taken seriously if they looked like an adorable grubling again! 

Ghost wanted to experience what it was like to walk among the humans, but they still needed to be suitably intimidating...hmm...perhaps a size similar to Hollow? They were certainly intimidating enough, and they were still able to fit most places, they’d lived in the White Palace while being trained as the Pure Vessel, after all.

Now they just needed to work out some details. They’d keep most of their horns, but some would have to go, they didn’t want their horns getting caught on everything, that’d be embarrassing. Perhaps just their main two, and some smaller ones on the sides of their face? Yes, that’d work fine. Now what about eyes? They didn’t need all eight of them to see. 

Actually, now that they thought about it, they’d probably be able to see even without any eye holes at all, Void was weird like that. But that would look super creepy, so they wouldn’t do that either.

Then, they remembered Monomon’s mask, which had only four eyes, which was a nice happy medium between eight and two. Yes, they decided, eyes like Monomon’s would look nice on their face. Now, what about arms? Ghost decided that they’d keep all four, the combat potential against adversaries with only two arms would be a massive advantage. Maybe they could even dual wield Longnails? The idea excited them. If they could pull that off without it looking stupid, they totally would!

Now what to do about the cloak situation? Being a massive form made of liquid Void, they had no need of a cloak, but if they took on a more permanent solid form, they’d need some form of clothing. They couldn’t very well go around with naked shoulders, it’d be indecent! 

Then Ghost remembered the Radiance and their massive amounts of fluff. Moths often had fluff that hid their shoulders and they folded their wings around themselves to form a cloak. Ghost decided that they would like to have fluff as well, it would be fitting to show their status of having consumed the Radiance and taken Her powers and domain for themselves, for all that they didn’t use them out of spite, aside from the Dreamnail. Besides that, it would make them seem bigger than they actually were and be super soft as well, so that friends could snuggle close and they would have the best hugs!

They also decided to have legs like Hollow’s, long and digitigrade with big claws on the ends. They also decided to add in some spikes for the extra intimidation factor, like the ones they’d seen on the legs of grasshoppers. They’d put them on the backs of their calves, slightly offset and angled outwards away from their body so that they could crouch without stabbing themselves.

They’d have arms and hands like Hollow’s too, except with less fingers. Ghost was always slightly unsettled by their hands, which seemed like they had one too many fingers no matter how many times Ghost counted them. Oh, and they’d have claws like Hornet did! Maybe they could even figure out how she spun her Soul into silk one day too! They could make cloaks for all their friends that way! 

They were getting excited, and their mental plan for their new body was almost complete, but it still felt like it was missing something…

Ghost jolted when they thought of how they could defy gravity as a sentient mass of Void liquid, but when they had a physical body, they wouldn’t be able to do that anymore. So, wings were in order! As much as Ghost hated the thought of looking too much like the Pale King, six wings would be optimal for sustaining flight in a bipedal form, that’s probably why the King did that when he transitioned to a smaller body from his Wyrm form.

Now, when they were a Vessel born of the Void, they didn’t really require energy from food, plain old Soul was plenty for them. They didn’t need much either, most of their organs didn’t really function and they’d only remained as part of their body because that’s the template the Void rebuilt them with. When they Ascended into the Shade Lord, they’d stopped needing even that much, what with no longer having any semblance of a true body or even organ facsimiles. They’d want to have a way to gather energy from food as well, since the humans seemed to place much importance on the act of eating communally and Ghost wanted to be a part of that.

However, extra space to store more Soul for spells would be necessary with a physical body, as they’d lost all their extra Mask Fragments and Soul Vessels when they’d abandoned their old, childlike form. Perhaps an abdomen coming off the main body, purely for Soul storage? Something like what they’d seen the mantises with, but attached to a torso? That could work, if they curled it upwards instead of down, that way it wouldn’t drag on the ground or get in the way if they sat down. Maybe they could hide a stinger in there too, like the bees had? Yes, then they’d never be truly unarmed, and they’d have their new claws too! They’d be deadly in close combat, just how Ghost liked it!

With all the details sorted out, they’d simply need to inform Zuko of their brilliant plan and begin metamorphosis, which shouldn’t take more than a day or two to complete if they focused really hard and used a ton of Soul to speed the process up. They had loads of Soul to spare, since they had just been sitting around for gods-knew-how-long not doing much with it. Oh, they'd experimented and tinkered with Soul a bit, inventing various spells and wards to use, but they constantly generated Soul completely passively. Void and Soul existed in a weird sort of almost-duality, which is why the Kingsoul charm had been able to transition into the Void Heart. 

They'd long since completely integrated the Void Heart into their form, and had thus gained the Kingsoul's ability to passively generate Soul alongside their Void. It was especially useful now, since they could put their absolutely massive stockpiles of Soul to good use.

* * *

Jee cursed himself for drawing the short straw as he went to go wake the Prince, “Uh, Sir, the spirit’s acting weird! Can you go see what it wants?” 

The Prince grumbled as he awoke against his will.

“Ugh, what do they want now?!” Zuko griped as he climbed out of bed and threw some shoes on. He made his way to the deck and was surprised to see Ghost much closer to the ship then he’d ever seen them. They were carefully holding the damaged bow to keep from accidentally smashing into the side of the ship.

**_[Excitement!] [Anticipation!]_ **

“What is it, Ghost? It’s the middle of the night! I was sleeping!”

**_[Apology!] [Impatience!] [Solution!] [Metamorphosis!]_ **

Zuko massaged his temples with his hands, because he was not mentally ready for mind charades at ass o’clock in the morning. “I don’t know what that means, Ghost!” 

**_[Just-Catch-Me!]_ **

With that, their entire body seemed to shiver and become wispy. A bass hum that Zuko felt more in his bones than anything else started up, and only became steadily louder. A static tingle seemed to infuse the air and made Zuko’s arm hairs stand to attention.

“What’s happening?! Ghost, what did you do?!”

Ghost gave no reply, too focused on channeling the massive amounts of Soul they had gathered over the eons into a singular purpose: Metamorphosis. Like their father before them, they abandoned their first immense form for a smaller, weaker one for the purposes of interacting and forming bonds with those around them.

* * *

Zuko was scared, he didn’t know what was happening, only that something was wrong with Ghost. Their eyes almost seemed scrunched in pain, and they wouldn’t focus on him no matter how loud he yelled. In his desperation, he shot off a plume of fire in the dark, hoping to grab their attention, since they’d always seemed enraptured when they witnessed him practicing his katas on the deck. No dice, Ghost still wasn’t responding. 

Ghost then let out a shriek that might’ve been pain before they vanished altogether. The ship rocked as water rushed to fill the space where they'd been not two seconds ago. No trace of them was left. Zuko cried out in shock, thinking that his friend had somehow died, when suddenly there was a flash of light so intense it seemed as if Agni himself had descended from the heavens right in front of him. Although his eyes were shut tight, Zuko could still see the outlines of his hands shielding his face, that’s how bright it was.

The light vanished as quickly as it came, and both Zuko and the crew were too busy attempting to regain their night vision and stumbling around in the dark that they failed to notice the dark egg falling towards the _Wani’s_ deck, until it landed almost fully on top of Zuko. It knocked him to the floor, forcing the air out of his lungs in a loud 'Oof!'.

“What was that?!” Zuko demanded, picking himself up. He blinked his eyes rapidly to clear the bright spots, and then gasped when he saw what had fallen on him. 

Slightly smaller than Zuko himself, it was a round, spherical shape, and dark as sin. Strange black mist wafted off of it in small waves, almost like ice on a hot summer day. Its surface was glossy and reflective, almost as good as a real mirror, and its angular facets caught the torchlights from the deck oddly. When Zuko raised a hand to touch it, glowing arcane symbols moved over its surface, much like the tablet at the Southern Air Temple. The surface of the thing was icy cold, just like Ghost's form was.

The door to the deck burst open, revealing his uncle in his nightclothes in a ready combat stance, fists held out in front of him. Behind Iroh, Zuko could hear the pounding of boots from the rest of the crew that must have woken up with all the racket being made.

“Prince Zuko! Are you all right?!” His uncle rushed over and began checking him over for injuries before Zuko jerked away, uncomfortable with the manhandling.

“Uncle, I’m fine! Something happened to Ghost! They said a bunch of stuff that made even less sense than your stupid tea proverbs, and then there was a flash of light and they turned into this!” he said, gesturing to the black egg-looking thing. At his explanation, the egg seemed to pulse and it lit up with symbols again.

“Oh, my...how fascinating!” His uncle seemed almost excited by the egg and he turned back to Zuko, “What exactly did they say? What was the wording?”

“Erm, well, it’s more like thoughts, really, but they seemed to be trying to say that they had a solution, and then something like the...concept of change? I didn’t understand it at all! How is this a solution to anything?!”

“Well, they certainly fit on the ship now!” Iroh laughed. “Maybe we can just put them in the cargo hold until we get the ship fixed, and then once we reach the open ocean again they’ll turn back? Or maybe...hmm.”

“What? Maybe what?”

“Perhaps your large friend is like the butterfly-moth, who starts out life as a fuzzy caterpillar-worm but becomes a beauty after metamorphosis?”

“That...actually makes a lot more sense than I thought it would,” Zuko mused.

The crew behind them was silent until one spoke up, “So, can we go to port tomorrow or not?”


	7. I Challenge You To A Custody Batt -- I Mean An Agni Kai!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the dialog in the chappie is taken from the episode transcripts on the AtLA Wiki. That's where I get most of my info actually, since I haven't watched the actual show in years, only read lots of AtLA fics. :) They have a super handy map on there too! Go check it out, its really cool!

Ghost drifted in and out of consciousness. Their liquid form was tucked safely away in an egg made made of solid Void and reinforced with about two dozen protection spell matrixes. Nothing except the fist of God itself would break through the shell until Ghost was ready to emerge. It was a necessary security measure, of course, since Ghost was at their most vulnerable while undergoing metamorphosis.

They held the mental image of their new form in the front of their minds at all times, every curve and spike, every dark chiton plate and bit of fluff had to be pictured in excruciating detail, or the spell would take even longer to complete. This of course, left little brain power left over to consider other things, but Ghost would often think of Zuko and hope he was safe while Ghost was not there to hover over him.

They did their best to block out the goings on of the outside world, focused on making the metamorphosis go as fast as possible. It was a bit uncomfortable having their Void twist and compress in new and alien ways, but it was necessary. Ghost did their best to stay focused on the task at hand as they drifted, and hoped it would be over soon.

* * *

Zuko hoped Ghost’s new state of being was not permanent, because the dark egg they had left behind was causing no end of trouble for him. For one thing, they had to jam it against a wall of the lookout tower and the deck, because it was too wide to fit through the doors of the Wani. Then, it had started rolling across the deck whenever a particularly large wave rocked the ship. 

They’d resorted to creating a makeshift nest out of crates and old tarps to keep it from moving around and so far it seemed to be working. To top it all off, Zuko was the only one able to touch the egg with his bare hands, it zapped everyone else who tried with a small, but still painful electric shock. 

The crew either had to wear the extremely thick engineering gloves reserved for those working around the ship’s engines, or use poles or sticks to prod the egg into position. Zuko had swiftly vetoed that last option though, worried that the egg and by extension his friend Ghost, would be injured or damaged by the prodding.

Zuko was just extra worried because they were coming into port in just a few hours, and Zuko didn’t want Zhao to discover it. He’d thrown some extra tarps and ropes over it, hoping to make the whole mess look like a pile of extra junk that they kept on the deck because it wouldn’t fit in the cargo hold. He doubted Zhao would buy it, the paranoid bastard, but it was better than nothing.

He just hoped that Zhao would be too busy to bother much with him, but Zuko just knew his luck would ruin it for him, like it always did.

* * *

Of course, Zuko was proven right, when barely an hour had past since they had docked before Zhao accosted him. It was right after Zuko had finished explaining to the crew that they were free to go if they felt the journey was now too dangerous. Thankfully for Zuko, only one man decided to bail out, the cook’s young assistant, Lee. Zuko let him go without fuss as promised, and the young man ran off the ship like Koh itself was after him.

Zuko missed the intrigued look Zhao shot after the fleeing man, or else he might have prepared better for the disastrous event about to follow.

“Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail,” Zuko said, trying not to look as anxious as he felt.

“You mean the Avatar?” Came Iroh’s distracted reply.

“Don't mention his name on these docks!” Zuko hissed. “Once word gets out that he's alive, every firebender will be out looking for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way! Never mind the rumors that are probably already circulating about Ghost!” 

“Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko? And who is this ‘Ghost’ character, hmm?” A smarmy sounding voice said, from directly behind the pair.

“Captain Zhao,” Zuko bit out, looking supremely displeased at his presence.

“It's  _ commander _ now, actually. And General Iroh, what an honor to see such a great hero of our nation at my port,” Zhao said, looking smug at the way the Prince ground his jaw at Zhao’s dismissive tone.

_ “Retired _ general,” Iroh replied gently, trying to diffuse the already tense situation. 

“The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests anytime. What brings you to my harbor?” Zhao inquired.

“Our ship is being repaired,” Iroh said. 

“That's quite a bit of damage,” Zhao replied mildly, though his eyes had sharpened dangerously at the glimpse of the claw marks near the bow.

“Yes. You wouldn't believe what happened. As we were sailing beside an iceberg in the South Pole, some ice broke off the top and landed on the ship,” Came Zuko’s quick reply. Perhaps a bit too quick, as Zhao didn’t look like he believed a word of it.

“Err, yes, it was...falling ice,” Came Iroh’s awkward contribution.

Zuko internally cursed himself for forgetting to tell his uncle of his plan to lie to Zhao. Uncle was usually terrible at lying when he was caught off guard suddenly like this.

“Really? You must regale me with all of the _ thrilling _ details,” Came Zhao’s slightly sarcastic response. “Join me for a drink? I’ve recently received a shipment of rare teas from the Capital.”

“Sorry, but we have to make sure the repairs are overseen correctly,” Zuko said, hoping that would be the end of it and Zhao would leave them alone. But of course the universe was never so kind to Zuko, for Zhao had uncovered Iroh’s biggest weakness: rare tea. 

“Rare teas you say? Zuko and I would be honored to accept your kind invitation! Isn’t that right, Nephew?” Iroh said eagerly, already off in his own tea-filled world.

* * *

The Gaang was swiftly approaching the Souther Air Temple, much to Aang’s excitement and the siblings apprehension. This wouldn’t end well, would it? There were bound to be skeletons lying all over the place. They just hoped that they wouldn’t stumble across the bodies of any of Aang’s loved ones.

* * *

“...and by the year's end, the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule. The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war,” Came Zhao’s smug declaration. 

“If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool!” Zuko said heatedly. The war was always a sore subject with him, for obvious reasons.

Zhao sidled up next to Zuko, invading his personal space a bit. “Three years at sea have done little to temper your tongue. I’ve heard some very interesting rumors lately, apparently you had a run in with an angry spirit?” Zhao’s eyes shone a bit crazily in the dim candlelight of the tent. “Tell me, what did you do to anger it? They rarely lash out without reason, you know, so you must have done something truly heinous to goad it into attacking your ship.”

Before Zuko could think about censoring himself, he blurted out, “I’ve done nothing! You heard wrong, there was no attack, they were just protec-” He finnaly managed to curtail his runaway tongue, cutting himself off. Unfortunately, this only seemed to encourage Zhao.

“Ah, so there was something!” Zhao said truimphantly, looking way too pleased with himself.

“No, there wasn’t! Come on Uncle, we’re leaving!” 

Zuko turned to march out of the tent when a breathless soldier suddenly came barging in. “Sir, we searched the ship as ordered, you really need to come see this!”

“You searched my ship?! You had no right!” Came Zuko’s indignant yell. Zhao only gave him an idecipherable look before he dashed for the entrance.

There was a mad scramble to the tent opening, and Zhao made it out first and booked it for the deck of the  _ Wani _ , with Zuko hot on his heels. Iroh plodded along after them at a much slower, but still hurried pace.

Upon reaching the deck of the  _ Wani _ , Zuko took in the scene of the makeshift nest in the corner of the deck torn apart, with the dark egg on full display. His men were corralled off to the side by Zhao’s soldiers, and Zuko’s men were yelling at Zhao not to touch it, because it shocked nearly everyone.

Zhao looked absolutely breathless at the sight of it, and attempted to touch it anyway. The protective spells on the egg, of course, took exception to such a sorry excuse of a human being touching it, and blasted Zhao with enough power to knock him on his ass, smoking slightly. 

Everyone except Zuko jumped at the loud banging sound this produced. Zuko rushed forward past a groaning Zhao and checked the egg over for damage. When Zuko touched it, instead of also being blasted like most expected, it instead lit up with sigils and only warmed under Zuko’s hand slightly. It also produced a low humming sound that almost sounded like the purring of a great beast to those close enough to hear it.

Zhao grunted slightly as he pulled himself up off the ground, “So, the spirit was protecting something after all. But, why intrust such a treasure to the one who stole it?”

Zuko only glared at Zhao while standing protectively in front of the egg. “I stole  _ nothing _ . If you want it, you’ll have to go through me first!” He declared, taking on an offensive stance.

“Very well, then. I challenge you to an Agni Kai! Winner gets the spirit artifact,” Zhao gave Zuko a nasty smile before making his way off the  _ Wani _ . “I’ll see you in the arena, boy.”

Zuko merely glared back.  _ Oh I will, you creepy bastard! _

* * *

Both Sokka and Katara were confused. While the temple was clearly empty of inhabitants, there were no bodies like they’d been expecting. The walls were clean and in good repair too, almost like the temple was simply waiting for the monks to come back from a long vacation. There were no weeds in the courtyard, and the flagstones on the floor weren’t cracked. The airball court was appently fully functional and in good condition too, as evidenced by Aangs enthusiastic solo playing.

“Man, where is everybody? It’s not lunchtime yet!” Aang exclaimed, still looking around excitedly.

Suddenly, Aang spotted a flying lemur sitting on the far end of the courtyard, grooming itself.

“LEMUR!!” Aang shouted, before taking off after it. Startled, the lemur let out a shriek before spreading its membranous wings and flying around a corner. Aang’s excited laughter only lasted for a second or two once he was out of the sibling’s sight. Worried, they called after him before following. What they saw in the inner courtyard brought them all up short, staring in horror at the grotesque monument before them.

Human skulls were stacked neatly up on top of each other, held together with a cage made from other bones tied together with small strips of tattered Air Nomad robes. Shredded bits of fabric waved in the wind atop a tower of death many times taller than any of the horrified children beholding it.

As they all stood in front the monument in horrified silence, they failed to notice the small dark ghost floating in from behind them, clutching a tattered children’s toy in one shadowy tendril. They finally noticed when it carefully placed the toy at the base of the obelisk and used a tendril to dust off one of the skulls and playfully bat at something hanging on the front of the pillar.

“Don’t touch that!” Aang yelled at the tiny spirit. It had been batting at an old worn wooden medallion bearing the symbol of the Air Nomads. Aang recognized that necklace. It was Gyatso’s necklace. 

The ghost flinched back in fright at the volume, and drew back further when Aang rushed forward to tug the medallion from its place and cradled it close. He fell to his knees and sobbed inconsolably. Then, his tattoos began to glow and the wind picked up dramatically, bearing his body into the air.

The Water Tribe siblings screamed as they were almost blown off the mountain by the force of the wind. 

After some fruitless attempts from Katara to calm Aang down, the Avatar’s attention was grabbed by a small tugging on his pant leg. A face torn in rage and grief, glowing with the power of a thousand lifetimes of knowledge, beheld the strange face of a small ghost child crying in grief as well. The three-horned shade used its small tendrils to enclose the grieving boy in a hug, and it hummed quietly as it held him.

The wind faded and Aang dropped limply to the floor, held up by the spirit as it continued to hold him. It stroked his back and let the boy cry all over it.

* * *

Eventually Aang calmed down enough to pick himself up. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and looked upon the spirit. He confusedly looked at Sokka and Katara, who were awkwardly standing off to the side.

“Uhh, whats your name? Why are you here?” Aang questioned the spirit. “Did you build this?”

_ Am Lost Kin. Did build with biggest siblings help! Said was disrespectful to leave bones on floor to rot. Helped them reach sky again. Let their spirits fly in their forever dream. _

“Did you clean the temple too? Or do others live here now?” Aang asked quietly.

_ Yes! Did clean, siblings play and explore sky palace! Biggest sibling used to play in sky palace too before left to follow the strange tall things. Look like you, but even taller! Taller tall thing had fun face colors like you, but only on eye. _

“Do you mean the angry jerk with the ponytail? Cause there was a super big version of you that attacked us when he tried to capture us on his boat!”

The spirit tilted its large head to the side like it didn’t understand.

_ Must have made biggest sibling angry. Biggest sibling scary when mad! _

“Understatement of the century…” Sokka muttered.

* * *

Zuko was kneeling shirtless on his side of the Agni Kai arena.

“Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons,” Iroh advised. He was almost out of his mind with worry for his nephew. The last time Zuko fought an Agni Kai had not ended well for the prince.

“I cannot allow him to win. I refuse to let him win,” Came Zuko’s dark reply.

As one, Zuko and Zhao rose from their crouched positions and faced each other. The gong rang out, clear and loud in the tense atmosphere. 

Zhao wasted no time in launching a large wave of fire Zuko’s way. Zuko countered with a circular flame shield before crouching down and letting off a wave of fire from his foot in a move resembling a leg sweep. Zhao, slightly blinded from Zuko’s shield maneuver from earlier had to dance back out of range but was unsteady on his feet as a result. Zuko wasted no time in taking advantage of the chance to break his root and jumped up into a flaming kick aimed at Zhao’s torso. 

Zhao blocked with his own, hastily constructed flame shield but was forced to retreat further towards the boundary line. Zuko had to stop for a moment to regain his breath control, but that was all the time Zhao needed to launch a counter attack. Flaming punches and kicks flew back and forth between the pair, until Zuko broke the pattern with another flaming leg sweep maneuver. It connected and Zhao fell heavily to the floor panting. Zuko quickly stood above Zhao and aimed a fist in the direction of his face in a clear threat.

“Yield!” Zuko demanded.

Zhao continued to glare up at Zuko and replied, “Do it! You don’t have the guts!”

Zuko blasted a fireball mere inches from Zhao’s face. It impacted the ground next to his head and singed his sideburns.

“Next one won’t miss,” Zuko promised darkly. “Yield!” He commanded again.

“Fine! I yield!” Zhao yelled out, “Your father clearly raised a coward!”

Zuko merely turned around and began to walk away, oblivious to Zhao pulling his fist back and launching a fireball at the his unprotected back. Iroh, who had seen the whole thing, was too slow to stop the advancing fireball. He yelled out to Zuko in warning. Zuko turned around just in time to see the fireball crash into an invisible wall about a foot in front of him. The air lit up with sigils similar to those on the black egg back on the  _ Wani _ .

The spectators, as well as Zhao, stared in amazement at the miracle they had just witnessed. The sigils hung in the air for a moment before dissipating into nothingness with a slight static crackle.

“What in Agni’s name was that…?” Zhao breathed, eyes widened in shock.

Zuko, who was just as shocked as everyone else, had correctly guessed that this was the work of Ghost. He quickly schooled his features into a sly, knowing smirk. “It pays to have friends in high places, Zhao.”

Zuko, resumed walking back to his side of the arena, this time with a bit of confident swagger in his step. The look on Zhao’s face was priceless!

“So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat? Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you, and even the spirits recognize that,” Iroh bullshitted quickly. He had to make it look like he knew what was going on. “Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious.” 

  
The pair turned to leave the arena and return to the  _ Wani _ for departure, completely oblivious to the absolute shitstorm they had just started with their performance. None of the two dozen or so witnesses to the event had particularly tight lips, and so even before the pair had left the room, there were already wild accusations and rumors making the rounds in the port.


	8. Gordon Ramsey? No, This Is Ghost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol I meant for there to be more plot progression but whatever, have fluff instead! :D Honestly I try to write plot but then Ghost derails the whole thing by being adorable. Whatever, Kyoshi Island will get here when it gets here. 
> 
> PS, since no one guessed it, the inspiration for Ghost's default Lord of Shades mental speech is from an online web novel called 'Worm', written by a guy called Wildbow. It it there are these massive alien creatures, and they talk kinda like [Trajectory?] [Agreement.] [Destination?] [Agreement.] The story is over a million words long and is a fascinating grimdark take on the superhero genre, I highly recommend it!

Zuko was pleased with the overall outcome of recent events. He’d successfully kept Ghost’s egg safe and he’d gotten to knock that infuriating smirk off of Zhao’s stupid face by winning the Agni Kai handily, with a little assistance from Ghost after the fact. He’d also managed to restock the ship’s supplies and provisions at a greatly discounted price as well!

Unbeknowst to Zuko, was the fact that he’d gotten that discount because of all the rumors circulating the port. There were many different conflicting rumors, some said that Zuko had died at sea and been replaced by a spirit, another said that he’d been blessed and entrusted with a sacred spirit relic (Ironically the closest to the truth), or that Zuko had killed a spirit and taken its powers for himself.

Zuko had already plotted the ship’s course to the next most likely place the Avatar would stop at, Kyoshi Island, though it would take a fair few days of sailing to get there.

All that was left for Zuko to do was practice his katas, or sit around waiting. He frowned. He hated waiting.

* * *

Something finally happened on the second day at sea. 

“Sir! Something’s wrong with the egg!” Came the hurried voice of one of the crewman on deck.

Zuko quickly dropped the firebending scroll he was reading and shoved past the entrance door. The egg was glowing in the morning sun, and the white symbols seemed to form a sort of arcane net around the surface of the dark egg. Without warning, there was a sound like shattering glass, only many times louder, and the symbols faded away. 

The egg rocked back and forth before hairline fractures began appear on its surface. There was a sound like someone was hitting something underwater many times in succession, before a long dark limb erupted from the cracked surface. 

It seemed to still at the sensation of fresh air before it withdrew back into the egg. There came a loud humming sound before the remnants of the egg broke open with a loud bang. 

Left in its place was a creature curled into itself, crouching on the deck. It slowly brought itself to it feet, shaking slightly in place like a newborn ostritch-horse chick. Though the creature was covered in a sticky dark fluid from the egg, it was no less imposing for it.

It was seven feet tall at the top of the head, but the horns added an extra two feet all on their own. It bore a white mask with four eye holes, two larger ones and two smaller ones above those that almost gave the appearance of eyebrows. There was no visible mouth that Zuko could detect. Its body was very slim, bearing four arms with four-fingered hands, three larger fingers and an opposable thumb. Each digit was tipped with sharp claws that slowly extended before retracting again. 

The four arms sat on a slightly elongated torso, and above the top pair of arms, along the shoulders, was a strange greyish mass. It was a bit difficult to tell what it was at first, for it was covered in sticky liquid that was swiftly congealing into a disgusting mess, but it appeared to be the makings of a fluffy ruff about the creature’s neck.

Its legs were digitigrade with backwards facing spikes extending from the calves. It stood upon what first appeared to be cloven hooves, but were actually two large claws. They had an insectoid abdomen extending from just above where a butt would be located on a human. It was an elongated teardrop shape that curled upwards parallel to its back. Its entire body was covered in pitch black armored plates that appeared quite sturdy but Zuko could tell that they were still flexible enough to allow unimpeded movement.

“Ghost?” Zuko breathed.

They let out a happy sounding trill and attempted to walk towards him but they had overbalanced and was on a trip towards the cold, hard deck of the _Wani_. 

Zuko stepped forward and awkwardly caught them under their lowest set of arms. Zuko was surprised at how little they seemed to weigh and began to worry.

 _Are they supposed to be so light?_ He thought to himself.

He lowered Ghost gently to the floor and began barking for someone to fetch a bucket of water and some clean rags. He gave the deck a considering look before also demanding a mop. The crew scrambled to obey, creating a bit of a traffic jam in the doorway.

* * *

Even sitting down, Ghost’s horns were still only slightly below the top of Zuko’s head. They were clutching at the edge of his tunic and making chirping sounds. They seemed to be restraining themselves from hugging him, probably to avoid getting him any dirtier that he already was. Zuko appreciated the thought and gently touched a horn in curiosity.

The moment was interrupted by a crewmate bringing the requested cleaning items. He set them on the floor next to next to Zuko and scuttled backwards, away from the alien creature next to the prince.

Zuko rolled his eyes and told the crewmate he could go back to his regular duties. The crewmate wasted no time in retreating below deck. Zuko let out a huff and grabbed the bucket, testing the water’s temperature. Freezing cold, that wouldn’t do at all. He stuck a bare hand in the water and used a basic firebending technique to swiftly boil the water before cooling it back down a bit.

He took a rag and began wiping Ghost’s face down with the warm water. Ghost only jerked back a small bit before sighing contentedly and shoving their face into the rag, chasing the warmth.

“Don’t make me do all the work!” Zuko complained, “Here, you help,” he said handing Ghost another clean rag. Ghost took it and began running the semi-rough cloth over their hands, fascinated by the texture. Their Lord of Shades form certainly had its uses, but one thing it wasn’t great at was picking up on finer details like textures. They could only really feel extreme temperatures and pressure in that form because of its liquid nature.

Now that they had a physical body, it seemed they were much more sensitive to their surroundings. They were glad they had decided to not cover the undersides of their hands in armored plates, it let them experience so many new sensations! Speaking of which, one sensation they’d rather not experience was their current situation of being covered in swiftly-drying, sticky liquid Void.

They eagerly dunked their rag and began wiping at their matted fluff. Zuko helped them get the stuff on their back before he helped them stand upright. They only swayed a little on the rocking deck, quickly becoming accustomed to the rhythmic nature of the movement. It didn’t take the two of them long to clean Ghost off, and while they stood off to the side to dry, Zuko got to work collecting the pieces of the eggshell into a nearby crate and mopping the stained floor.

After a few minutes of watching Zuko and feeling everything they could get their hands on, they shook themselves a bit like a cat-dog to help dry out their fluff, which was now a nice, clean white like their mask. They tried focusing some Soul into it to help it warm up and fluff out, which worked a little too well.

Zuko turned around upon hearing a strange ‘phoomp’ sound from behind them. They struggled to stay upright after witnessing the puffball their friend had become, they were laughing too hard. Ghost looked absolutely ridiculous, all sharp edges and intimidating black plates, with an enormously puffed out mass of white fluff that seemed to consume half of their upper body.

Ghost opened the mouth blended seamlessly into the bottom of their mask and used the void tendrils inside to blow a raspberry at their laughing friend. Zuko laughed even harder at the childish display, before he finally managed to calm down.

“Sorry, but you looked absolutely ridiculous, couldn’t help it,” Zuko said, not sounding the least bit sorry. Ghost smoothed their fluff back down to a more manageable volume before replying.

**Friend has nice laugh. Want to make laugh more in future.**

“Oh! I can understand you now, even without the Dreamnail. That’s handy,” He replied, deciding to ignore their friend’s comment about his laugh.

**Yes! Plan worked perfectly, am smaller now, can fit on ship! Protect Friend better.**

“I still don’t need you to protect me, I can do fine on my own! I’ll have you know I beat Zhao in an Agni Kai! He found out about you somehow and wanted to keep you for himself, so I had to duel him to get him to piss off,” Zuko explained, completely oblivious to the fact that he had just signed Zhao’s death warrant.

 **Friend did** **_what_ ** **?! Had to fight creepy Zhao by himself?! Friend okay?!**

Ghost proceeded to completely disregard Zuko’s personal space on their quest to verify that he was still alive and in one piece.

“Sweet Agni, I’m fine! You don’t need to fuss over me like this! I’m not a baby! I didn’t even get a scratch on me, thanks to whatever weird magic you did.”

 **Friend right...can take care of stupid Zhao. Zhao sucks at firebending, no control. Wait, protection spell was activated? Why?** **_What did he do?_ **

Ghost mental voice went very still and quiet at that last bit.

Zuko, ever oblivious, just dug Zhao's grave deeper, “Zhao, the sore loser, took a cheap shot at my back after he had already lost!”

**_Dead man._ **

“What?” Zuko said confusedly.

 **Zhao is** **_dead man_ ** **. I will kill him.**

“What?! No, you can’t do that!” Zuko shouted, “Yeah, I mean, I hate him as much as anyone, but he doesn’t deserve to die just for being a sore loser!”

**Fine, but only because Friend said so. Make no promises if he does it again.**

“I’ll take it,” Zuko declared. Then his stomach growled.

Zuko had missed breakfast due to all the excitement from before, and dinner wouldn’t be until much later. Lunch was no longer being served on the ship due to the cook’s assistant having left at the port. The cook tried his best, but there were simply too many people to feed and not enough time for one person to make three meals a day.

**Friend hungry? Get food?**

“Can’t, cook’s too busy to make three meals a day anymore. His assistant left when we stopped at port.”

Ghost looked down guiltily.

**My fault, he was scared of me, wasn’t he?**

“No, it is not your fault he had even less of a spine than the rest of the crew!” Zuko tried to reassure Ghost.

**Whole crew scared of me? Oh...**

Zuko cursed himself in his mind, he’d made it worse!

**Wait! I can help in kitchen! Can help cook, then crew not be scared! Hard to be scared of someone that brings you cookies!**

“Wait, you know how to cook?” Zuko questioned. _Why would an ancient spirit know how to make human food?_

Ghost nodded eagerly, thinking about all the things they would get to make again. 

Although Ghost hardly remembered what their life was like when they were human, a few details stuck around. They remembered that they’d used to cook with their mom all the time, and what recipes they liked best. While they were by no means a professionally trained chef, they had been damn good, if they did say so themselves. 

That made them think about what they could remember about their parents, the ones who’d actually loved them, not their Hallownest parents.

They remembered that their mom had hair like the sun, and eyes like the sky. Their father had a long nose that Ghost would playfully tease him for and the best smiles. They remembered their mother was a school teacher and their father was a soldier. Although he wasn’t home much, he’d always make up for the time he’d been gone with presents from faraway places and endless amounts of hugs.

Ghost didn’t realize that they’d started crying until Zuko frantically started asking them what was wrong.

 **Nothing wrong! Happy memories.**

They raised one arm to wipe at the Void dripping from their two largest eyes, but had to go grab a discarded rag, since all they’d managed to do with their hand was spread it around.

**Go see cook, help with food making so Friend can eat and make crew not scared!**

Zuko was only able to nod awkwardly and directed them towards the entrance to below deck. Then they encountered a problem.

“Uhhh, I think you might still be a bit too tall for the _inside_ of the ship…” 

**No! Will not give up, will make fit!**

With that declaration, Ghost stooped down and forced their way inside. They could stand, but just barely. Their horns scraped the ceiling even when they hunched down as far as they could go. At this rate, they’d have even worse posture than Hollow did! 

They trying crouching on the floor and, using their arms, they could manage an odd sort of shuffling bunny hop. It looked ridiculous, but it worked. Zuko awkwardly scooted in front of them and began to lead the way to the kitchen.

* * *

The kitchen, thankfully, had higher ceilings than anywhere else on the ship due to ventilation concerns, so Ghost could stand upright in there, at least.

“Uh, Denki…?” Zuko started, “I, uh, may have found you a replacement assistant.”

“Oh, wonderful! Hello there, my na-” Denki stopped cold upon looking up from his station where he was frantically chopping vegetables for that night’s stew. Denki looked up, and up, and up, before finally meeting the four-eyed gaze of his new ‘help’.

**Hello, is nice to meet you! Am Ghost, I can help cook!**

“Uhhh…” Went Denki. Then, he seemed to shake himself out of his stupor and stood straighter, before meeting Ghost’s gaze head-on. “No, you know what? Fuck it, who even cares, I’m up to my eyeballs in work, and if you really can help lighten the load, then welcome aboard,” Denki took a breath before he continued. “You can use a blade right?” 

Ghost nodded, for they were skilled with blades of all kinds! It’s not like they’d had much to do down in the Abyss except practice what few skills they had, but they also remembered their way around a kitchen knife.

“Great. Fantastic. Now, I need all those carrots chopped for tonight’s stew, so hop to it!” Denki said, already bossing his new help around. He wasn’t paid enough to give a shit about anything not related to the kitchen, spirits or no spirits.

Ghost nodded eagerly and waved goodbye to a retreating Zuko, before making their way over to the counter. They selected a knife appropriate for vegetables, only to run into a new problem. The knife was comically small in their large hand. 

Not to be discouraged, they put the knife down and formed a tendril of Void from their back, just below the plate where their wings were folded up beneath. They brought the tip around to their face and focused. The end of the tendril became flat and a cutting edge formed on one side. They took a carrot from the large sack sitting on the floor and placed it on the wooden cutting board.

The new appendage moved so fast it appeared to blur, and the carrot was neatly diced into medium-sized chunks perfect for stew, all in less than a second.

“Well, I’ll be a hog-monkey’s uncle! You’ve got skills after all!” Denki sounded over the moon.

**Yes, have many skills! Can Ghost try making lunch for crew after all the vegetables are done?**

“Sure, the prepwork is just tedious, but I won’t need any help with the stew after everything’s cut,” Denki explained.

**Will chop all the things!**

* * *

Ghost indeed chopped all the things. It took almost no time at all for all the vegetables to be prepared, and Ghost was soon left to their own devices to make lunch. They made their way over to the pantry to see what ingredients they had available. 

After some deliberation, they decided on chicken pot pies, an old favorite of their father’s. Well, Ghost thought, they’d technically be pig-chicken pot pies, but whatever. They’d have to improvise a bit and substitute a couple ingredients, but that shouldn’t be a problem.

Despite this new world being less technologically advanced than either of the ones they’d left behind, they seemed to have a much greater variety of food available compared to their technology level than Ghost had expected.

They got to work making the dough and got the broth ready. Before they knew it, they’d zoned out into their own little world, where nothing but the steady rhythm of the kitchen mattered.

They missed all the incredulous looks Denki was sending their way at the sight of a dozen tendrils of darkness spread out over the other half of the kitchen. Ghost was doing the work of five men all by themselves and Denki was nearly weeping at the beauty of it all. Honestly, it was poetry in motion.

 _Well_ , Ghost thought to themselves, _they’re less like pies and more like calzones because there weren’t any pie tins, but they stayed together just fine_ . _Time for a taste test!_

They used a spatula and carefully lifted one from the baking sheet. They held it in their hands a bit like a taco, since they didn’t want to bother hunting for utensils. They bit into it without waiting for it to cool down. It’s not like they would get hurt from the heat anyways. They dallied with the firey God of Nightmares, if they couldn’t handle a little fire, then Grimmchild would’ve been way harder to handle!

Their mouth had no true teeth, but it did have a sharp ridge around the bottom and top jaw, so their mouth was more like a beak with chelicerae than anything else. The special void tendrils on the inside shredded their food for them, so teeth were unnecessary. They were also responsible for tasting things, because what good was being able to eat if you couldn’t enjoy any of it?

The crust was nice and flaky and came apart beautifully. The filling was savory, the thick, creamy broth complimented the perfectly cooked vegetables and the chunks of pork-chicken were nice and tender.

Ghost was so happy they came out well! Time to give them to the rest of the crew. Good thing it was just about lunchtime.

**Where does the crew eat? Lunch is finished!**

“What’re those? They smell delicious!” Denki inquired curiously.

**Pig-chicken pot pies! Came out so good! Try one, but be careful, insides still really hot!**

“Hmm, how are you supposed to eat them?”

**Normally on a plate with a fork, but hands work well enough, too.**

“Alright then, lemme go get a plate and stuff real quick,” Denki scurried out of sight into the storage closet before swiftly emerging with utensils.

He eagerly tucked into the food. It was a lot different that anything else he’d ever tasted, but it was, in fact, really good. It didn’t take him long to finish it off.

“Holy crap, that was good! Who knew spirits were such great cooks!” Denki laughed. “Here, lemme help you take those to the mess hall window, just let me find my oven mitt...or you could just grab the super-hot baking sheets with your bare-ass hands,” He said awkwardly at the sight of Ghost holding all the pans aloft with their four arms, and apparently suffering no ill effects.

Ghost gave them an amused look.

**Did the horizontal tango with the God of Fire and Nightmares, be shameful if I couldn’t handle a little heat!**

Denki’s face became a flaming red after he’d parsed that sentence out.

“Dude, you can’t just say things like that! Give a guy a little warning!”

Ghost just threw their head back and laughed.

* * *

Zuko started a little at the lunch bell ringing. _Ghost must have managed to help out enough to let the cook make lunch_ , he thought. He eagerly made his way to the mess hall, he was starving!

An unfamiliar, but still delicious smell wafted into his nostrils when he entered the mess hall. Other crewmates swiftly followed, and Zuko grabbed a tray before making his way to the window. At the sight of the unfamiliar dish, Zuko inquired if the cook was trying out a new recipe.

“Naw, this is all Ghost’s work! You shoulda seen them, Sir, doing the work of five men all on their lonesome, it was incredible!” Denki gushed.

Zuko gave a curt nod, he always felt awkward around the crew. “Glad that they’re fitting in well. So, what actually are these?”

“Ghost called them pig-chicken pot pies, whatever that means! They didn’t even use a pot to make these and they don’t look like any pie I’ve ever seen, but they’re good, so who really cares, right? Sir,” Denki quickly tacked on the title one he remembered that he was talking to a superior officer.

“Where is Ghost anyways?” Zuko questioned.

Denki simply pointed at the entrance to the mess hall, where Ghost was awkwardly standing, frozen by all the slightly fearful stares of the crew. 

**Made lunch? Hope you like it…**

Ghost beat a hasty retreat from the mess hall after shooting Zuko a sad look.

“They aren’t going to attack you and they made you lunch, the least you could do is stop being a bunch of scaredy cat-owls!” Zuko announced. Most of the crew looked a bit surprised at the fact a spirit had made them lunch, but then most looked at least a little ashamed of how they’d chased Ghost off with all their fearful staring.

Zuko took a pot pie and headed to his customary table in the corner, where his uncle was already tucking into a second pie.

“Nephew, you must give my compliments to your tall friend, these are wonderful!” Iroh declared.

Zuko simply grunted in response, still a bit angry over how the crew treated Ghost. _They haven’t even done anything wrong!_ He fumed. 

He dug into his pie a bit angrily, but slowed down to savor the flavor after he’d tasted it. _It really is good_ , he thought. _I wonder what else they can make?_

* * *

While Zuko was several hundred miles away enjoying delicious spirit-made pastries, the Gaang was being assaulted by warriors in skirts and make-up. Though it didn’t take Aang long to defuse the situation in typical Aang fashion, by distracting everyone with his super-sweet marble-airbending skills. 

The Gaang’s visit to Kyoshi went in the way you’d expect. The villagers were reverent towards the Avatar and all the attention had started to go to Aang’s head. Sokka was still butthurt about getting defeated by a bunch of girls, and Katara was starting to become fed up with Aang’s behavior. Nobody paid any attention to the fact that they were still being pursued by an angry teenage firebender and an eons old force of darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how about Grimmchild eh? Behold my headcannons! I don't think Grimmchild is like the other summon creature charms, they seem like they're actually alive. They go through stages of growth for crying out loud! But, if they an actual kid, where'd they come from? Well, when a vessel made of Void and a God of Nightmares love each other very much.... ;D but for real, let me know if you think I should update the tags or up the rating or sommat, cause i got no clue when that's appropriate. Its barely one innuendo alluding to the fact that Ghost is Grimmchild's bio parent, but people can be sensitive about stuff and i don't wanna end up being that one asshole who forgot to warn people. Let me know what you think in the comments!


	9. Canon Omake: Why Ghost Is No Longer Invited To Music Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol had a brainwave and needed to get this out! It takes place sometime while Zuko is sailing after the Avatar. So no specific timeframe, but Ghost's mimicking ability will be referenced later in the main story at some point. There will probably be more Omakes in the future, and I will indicate if they are considered canon or not in the chapter title

Ghost was confused at the sight of the crew members gathering on the deck of the _Wani_. Ghost turned to Zuko and asked about it.

**Why are so many people gathering on the deck?**

“It’s music night. Uncle always tries to get me to play the Tsungi Horn, no matter how much I tell him I’m terrible at it,” Came Zuko’s gruff response.

“Oh, Ghost why don’t you come join us for music night?” One of the crewmates called, “I know you can’t talk or anything, but you’re still welcome to come enjoy the music! Same goes for the Prince!”

**Can talk! Just choose not to...feels wrong. Void absorbs sound, not make it aside from screaming…**

“Really? So you’ve just been voluntarily mute the entire time?” Came the confused voice of Jee.

Ghost scuffed their hoof-claws on the floor before answering.

**Can talk, but not have own voice. Have to mimic other sounds, other voices in order to talk. Feels like stealing to use someone else’s voice.**

“Well then, I officially give you permission to use my voice for music night! It’s not stealing if I give you permission right?” Came Jee’s jovial reply.

**Really? You would do that for me?**

“Oi! If you’re gonna mimic anyone’s voice, pick someone who can actually sing! Jee couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket!” One of the crewmates joked.

Ghost gave a considering look to everyone gathered on the ship before turning to Zuko and replying.

**Can I use Friend’s voice to sing? Friend has lovely voice.**

“Oh, listen to that! Well Captain, sounds like the spirit has metaphorically spoken! You can’t say no to that face right?”

Ghost was indeed shooting a very pleading look at Zuko. How they did that with a completely immobile face, Zuko would never know.

“Fine! But don’t do anything embarrassing with it! And only for tonight!” Came Zuko’s grudging permission. He stomped over to a free spot and sat down amongst the group. “I’m only staying to make sure you don’t do anything humiliating!”

Ghost let out a happy trill and grabbed Zuko off the ground to embrace him in a large four-armed hug. 

“Put me down at once! I am not a toy!”

They only suffocated Zuko with their fluff a tiny bit before they set him back down. 

“Thank you!” Came the voice of Zuko, but from Ghost’s throat.

“Woah, that’s freaky!” Came Jee’s startled voice, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Prince sound so happy!”

The rest of the crew busted out laughing at that. Zuko’s face was only a bit red from indignation. He demanded that they got on with it already.

“I can sing my favorite song to start? It doesn’t even require any music, so you all can just listen, if you want?” Came Ghost’s borrowed voice.

“Damn, it’s so weird hearing the Prince’s voice come outta your mouth, you have a completely different tone and speech pattern!” Came the voice of Li. Everyone turned to look at him and he nervously replied, “What? I was a linguistics officer before I joined up with you lot! Give a guy a break!”

“What’s the song?” Zuko asked, eager to get this whole thing done and over with, “It better not be anything lame!”

“No, no! Was famous song, used in story about a child who led an entire rebellion against a nation that made children fight battles to the death to secure food for their home district! Was very popular back when it was made!” Ghost hastily reassured.

Zuko now looked intrigued. He was always searching for new and interesting theatre scrolls, not that he ever let anyone know of his secret love for them, “What’s it called?”

“Well, the story was called ‘Hunger Games’, but the song is ‘The Hanging Tree’,” Ghost explained.

“Well, let’s hear it then!” The crewman said in near unison, now quite eager to hear the song as well.

“Okay, here goes,” Ghost took a big inhale, and then opened their mouth to sing.

“Are you, are you,

Coming to the tree?

They strung up a man,

They say who murdered three.

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be,

If we met at midnight,

In the hanging tree.”

At this point, a low humming had started up in addition to the music, but Ghost seemed oblivious to the addition, or maybe they were doing it on purpose?

“Are you, are you,

Coming to the tree?

Where a dead man called out,

For his love to flee.

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be,

If we met at midnight,

In the hanging tree.”

Now the humming had added depth to it, almost like another person was humming along with Ghost’s singing, but as the crew looked around, no one there was responsible. 

Some began to shift in their seats, a little put off by the haunting lyrics being sung using the Prince’s voice. The Prince himself had an unreadable expression on his face, none of the crew could quite figure out if he was fascinated or horrified. Maybe it was both?

“Are you, are you,

Coming to the tree?

Where I told you to run,

So we'd both be free.

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be,

If we met at midnight,

In the hanging tree.”

Ghost had started to sing a bit louder now, and the humming got louder as well. The melody seemed to swell as the song went on.

“Are you, are you,

Coming to the tree?

Wear a necklace of hope,

Side by side with me?

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be,

If we met at midnight,

In the hanging tree.”

At this point, several voices had joined in with the humming, almost like a choir. Some of the voices had started to sing along wordlessly. 

“Are you, are you,

Coming to the tree?

Where I told you to run,

So we'd both be free.

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be,

If we met at midnight,

In the hanging tree.”

Ghost’s volume continued to rise, and the humming voices had almost started to overtake the words. 

Suddenly, upon the start of the next verse, all the humming voices joined Ghost’s in singing the words and the crewmates realized with a small amount of horror that the humming voices had been theirs all along, and now the whole crew’s voices were being mimicked by Ghost at the same time, in some kind of unearthly choir.

“Are you, are you,

Coming to the tree?

Where they strung up a man,

They say who murdered three.

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be,

If we met at midnight,

In the hanging tree.”

The voices continued to sing in harmony with one another for the next verse as well, and the crew could only listen on in silence.

Are you, are you,

Coming to the tree?

Where a dead man called out,

For his love to flee.

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be,

If we met at midnight,

In the hanging tree.”

Suddenly there were no more words, only loud humming and eerie noises, which was somehow worse. It continued to swell until it seemed to reach a peak before it all suddenly stopped dead, and only Zuko’s voice was left, almost whispering in the night air.

“Are you...are you,

Coming...to the...tree...?”

* * *

**So, how was it? Did I do good?**

Everyone jumped or flinched like they’d been stabbed. No one was expecting to hear Ghost’s mental voice ringing in their heads after such a performance. It was Jee who bravely broke the silence.

“That was most excellent, it was, uh, truly invigorating!” Jee awkwardly said. Nobody wanted to hurt Ghost’s feelings, partly out of fear, but also because none of them wanted to be that much of a dick, but if they never heard such a performance again, it would be too soon.

The other crewmates all gave varying degrees of agreement with the sentiment, but they all quickly made excuses to be elsewhere soon after that. Ghost and Zuko were soon left alone on the deck.

**Why did they all leave? Was I really that bad...?**

“No! You were great, I’ve never heard anything like it!” Came Zuko’s quick assurance, “They were all just intimidated by your skills, I’m sure. Humans can’t mimic voices like that, and certainly not multiple at once.”

**Oh...well, next time I’ll just listen from afar, then! Won’t be around to make them feel nervous, they deserve to have fun too!**

“Sounds like a plan,” Zuko said, “Well, it’s time for me to go to bed now, so I guess I’ll see you in the morning?”

**Good night then!**

Ghost gave a quick nuzzle to the top of his head before shuffling down the hallway to the cargo hold, where they slept due to its higher ceilings.

Zuko watched them disappear around the corner before he headed to his quarters. Somehow, he doubted he’d get much sleep that night.

* * *

The next day, instead of rising with the sun, Zuko was awoken by his uncle’s dismayed shouts of, “What do you mean I skipped out on music night the one time Zuko decided to participate?!”


	10. Ghost Used Shade Soul! Critical Hit! It Was Super Effective!

While Aang greatly enjoyed all the attention he had been getting from the villagers, he was glad he had been able to get away from it all for a little bit to think. He had snuck away from everyone in the early morning hours and had perched himself on a nice secluded tree branch overlooking the bay of Kyoshi Island.

Aang admired the sunrise and enjoyed the sea breeze, but he was soon distracted by his own thoughts about what they had experienced at the Southern Air Temple. The bone monument had been horrifying, and the strange black spirit child had been frightening at first, too.

However, after Aang had calmed down, the spirit, Lost Kin, had told them what had become of the temple. The little spirits had turned it into their home, but had still respected what traces of Aang’s culture remained. They cleaned the temple of bones and had given the bodies the burial rights the spirits had considered appropriate, since they didn’t have any idea what rights the Air Nomads used.

Apparently, in their culture, the bones and remains of the deceased were used in the construction of places of remembrance for the dead or the study of magic. Aang didn’t really understand what the spirits meant by ‘magic’ but he’d assumed it meant some primitive form of science. People had used to think bending was magic too, after all.

Aang had gently explained that the Air Nomads were laid to rest using a process known as a ‘Sky Burial’ and that they gave their bodies back to nature when they passed on. Lost Kin had promised to grind up the bones and scatter them on the wind, as was custom, after the Gaang had left. 

It had really put Aang’s mind at ease to know that the spirits of the Nomads had been helped to move on peacefully to the after-life by Lost Kin’s ‘biggest sibling’. That had been a revelation as well, knowing that the giant vengeful spirit monster they had encountered while escaping from Zuko’s boat was actually the eldest sibling of all the temple shades. Aang didn’t know that spirits could even have siblings!

Lost Kin had explained that ‘biggest sibling’ had probably only attacked them in momentary anger over knocking Zuko overboard. That made much more sense to Aang, since he knew that spirits could be fiercely protective over what they considered to be ‘theirs’, and he resolved to apologize to the spirit at the earliest opportunity. He hadn’t meant to actually hurt Zuko, he’d just wanted to escape!

After that, Lost Kin had shown them around, and Aang took in the changes made to his once-home. The orchard that used to house fruit trees was still there, although there was the added presence of strange blue flowers that looked like butterfly-moths. They’d even moved a bit like them, too!

Tiny blue creatures were clearly using them as a food source, judging by the small blue cocoons scattered about the place. Lost Kin had called the creatures Life-Seeds, and explained that they made a substance similar to honey called Lifeblood. Apparently it tasted good and energized you, but it was difficult to harvest without hurting the Life-Seed creatures, so the Gaang had left them alone.

They met a few other spirits as well, including one that had been in the middle of painting a mural on a blank section of wall using a strange dark liquid. It had depicted ‘biggest sibling’ brutally tearing apart some other creature that looked like a weird butterfly-moth wearing a crown. 

The Gaang had all been unsettled by that and Aang had mentioned that the Air Nomads didn’t like violence and were pacifists by nature, but the spirit making the mural had merely responded that they were documenting a historic event about ‘biggest sibling’s’ victory over ‘The Old Light’ and their ‘Ascension’, whatever that meant.

Either way, Aang wasn’t willing to pick a fight over a simple mural so he’d let it go. The spirits had respected the Air Nomad murals by not removing or modifying them, so Aang figured he’d do the same.

The spirits had taken good care of the temple, and had done their best to honor and respect the previous occupants, so Aang was able to leave the temple with a much lighter heart than he would have otherwise.

* * *

Aang was suddenly drawn out of his musings by the sound of the village bell being rung frantically. He grabbed his glider and flew back to the village to see what was going on.

The villagers had all gathered in the square while a breathless young man had explained that he’d seen a Fire Nation ship headed towards Kyoshi. Everyone in the village was confused and worried, because they’d managed to stay neutral in the war so far, so why was a Fire Nation ship suddenly headed their way?

The Gaang then guiltily explained that it was probably Zuko after them, although when asked, the young man said that he hadn’t seen anything else following the ship. That meant that the large spirit was either staying out of sight, or had stopped accompanying Zuko. They all hoped it was the last option.

* * *

The  _ Wani _ was a hive of activity. Everyone was donning armor or sharpening weapons while they prepared for the inevitable confrontation at Kyoshi Island. It had taken them nearly a week to get there and Zuko was extremely on edge, barking out orders of who was to do what when they went to capture the Avatar.

They’d brought the three komodo-rhinos out of their stables in the cargo hold, and Aza, one of the few female soldiers on board, was in charge of tacking the rhinos up with armor and saddles.

Out of all the crewmembers on board, Aza seemed to get along best with Ghost. Aza had an affinity for animals of all kinds, especially dangerous ones. While Ghost was no animal, they had quite a few non-human behaviors and mannerisms that seemed to put the rest of the crew on edge. Aza, on the other hand, wasn’t bothered by Ghosts behavior at all. She knew how to act around Ghost, and understood why they did the things that they did, so they weren’t nearly as intimidated. She simply treated them like a person who sometimes did things the others didn’t understand, and Ghost loved her for that.

Ghost and Aza became fast friends, as they also slept in the cargo hold with the rhinos, due to not really being able to comfortably fit most places on the ship, and Aza spent most of her time down there as well, caring for the rhinos. Zuko also quite liked her quiet company when he went to see the rhinos or Ghost, and she was always willing to talk to him about the rhinos or what Ghost had been up to recently.

Mochi, Daifuku, and Lemon Cake were soon all kitted up, and they were raring to go, tired of laying around doing nothing on the ship for a week. Zuko took point on Daifuku, since he was the largest rhino, and Zuko along with Ghost and the rest of the landing party were waiting tensely to make landfall on Kyoshi Bay’s beach.

* * *

They soon passed through the narrow opening to the bay and were swiftly approaching the shore. Suddenly, a crewmate yelled out a warning, pointing to the rapidly approaching fin sticking up out of the water.

**The Unagi!**

“The  _ what? _ ”

**Giant eel monster! I forgot about it!**

“Oh,  _ shit _ ,” Came Zuko’s quiet breath. “Is there anything we can do to scare it off? How big is it exactly?”

**Too big for you to fight! I’ll take care of it!**

“Wha-” Zuko was cut off by the sight of the Unagi’s long body exiting the water to hover threateningly over the ship before it screeched at them, exposing a maw of razor-sharp teeth.

Crew members on deck all started to panic, the Unagi was even larger than Ghost’s Shade Lord form!

The Unagi’s challenging roar was soon answered with a screech from Ghost. While it wasn’t quite an Abyss Shriek, it was still damn loud, and terrifying to listen to.

Ghost hunched their shoulders before an almost invisible seam split one of their smaller back plates, before both halves folded upwards. There was a sound like sails unfurling and Ghost spread six shining, silver wings before launching themselves bodily at the Unagi.

**Go! I’ll hold it off!**

Zuko quickly gave the order to get the ship the hell out of there, and the crew scrambled to follow. The ship sailed forwards toward the beach. 

Looks like he was fighting the Avatar without Ghost, but that was fine, since it was his responsibility to capture the Avatar anyway. He doubted his father would look favorably on him if he let Ghost do all the work!

The ship made landfall on the beach, and the landing party disembarked.  _ It was time _ , Zuko thought.

* * *

Ghost dodged and weaved, avoiding the Unagi’s biting lunges, and they cursed themselves for not practicing with their wings before now. They could fly just fine, that part was mostly automatic, but merely flying was much different from engaging in an aerial dogfight with a massive eel monster.

They traded screeches back and forth, with Ghost sometimes swooping close to claw at its face. Then, they remembered that magic was a thing they could use, and mentally facepalmed at their own idiocy.

**Am I a mage or not?! Honestly!**

Ghost hovered backwards to gain some distance, before letting off an overpowered Shade Soul right into its open maw as it lunged for them again. The spell flew into its mouth to impact with the back of its throat before detonating. The result was quite spectacular, if you asked Ghost.

The Unagi screeched as it writhed in its death throes, blood gushing from its mouth. The spell blew a hole big enough for Ghost to fly straight through it into the back of its mouth. Ghost could see the village through the back of the Unagi’s neck.

The creature that had protected Kyoshi Island from invasion for hundreds of years fell into the bay with a mighty splash. Its enormous corpse floated limply in the surf, the water rapidly being dyed red with blood.

Ghost was surprised it had died so easily.  _ Guess when you don’t have a sturdy shell to protect your fleshy bits, this is what happens…  _ They thought to themselves.

* * *

Everyone fighting in the village paused at the sound of the Unagi’s death screams. The villagers watched, horrified, as their mighty protector was felled in one blow by some Fire Nation abomination. 

The Gaang was confused, because though there was no giant spirit monster made of darkness, there was now something else, but it could apparently fly and shoot the same shadowy exploding balls that the giant one could.

“Wooo! Go Ghost! Kick its ass!” Came the excited yell of Aza, who was riding Lemon Cake and enjoying the giant Kaiju fight probably way more than she should’ve.

* * *

Ghost stayed hovering in the air for a few seconds before shooting over to join the fighting in the village. They flew over to where the fighting seemed densest before plummeting towards the ground, one arm extended in a Descending Dark spell.

They hit the ground like the angry fist of God, knocking everyone in a ten foot radius on their asses and shaking the ground. They stood up while the dust settled and spread their four arms, claws extended, before screeching a challenge.

Most of the untrained villagers screamed and ran at the sight of Ghost, one man in particular shouting about how he wasn’t about to let his soul be eaten by a spirit monster.

“Not today, spirit!” He shouted as he ran off.

Ghost was then immediately accosted by a Kyoshi warrior, who, to her credit, only trembled a little upon facing them in battle.

Ghost dove at the girl, intent on knocking her out, for they had no desire to kill innocents, even if those innocents were definitely out for their blood. 

The warrior blocked Ghosts claws with her reinforced metal fans, but Ghost had four arms to the girl’s two fans, so they swung around with a closed fist and clocked her on the temple. She went down like a sack of bricks and her fancy headdress was sent flying.

“Suki!” Came a familiar voice. “You killed her! You monster!” The Water Tribe boy accused before leaping at Ghost, intent on revenge. Ghost casually grabbed the boy’s wrists in a tight hold before shoving him to the ground. He tripped a little over the armored dress he was wearing, clearly unfamiliar in fighting with it on.

**She’s not dead.**

“What? Are you in my head?! Get out!” Sokka demanded. Ghost sighed and tried again.

**She’s not dead. She’s just unconscious. I do not kill innocents, and especially not children.**

“She’s not dead? Oh, thank Tui!” Sokka said relieved, before resuming a battle stance, “But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you go!” He shouted, before charging again.

Ghost merely Shadow Dashed straight through him, laughing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zuko was engaging the Avatar in combat, but it wasn’t going super great. The flighty airbender simply danced and dodged around everything Zuko threw at him! It was so infuriating! 

Then, after Zuko had finally managed to disarm him, the Avatar had grabbed some discarded fans off the floor from one of the downed female warriors and generated a strong gale that blasted him into a nearby house.

Aang retrieved his staff quickly, before joining Katara in a damaged house.

“Get inside!” Katara urged him.

_ “ _ Look what I brought to this place,” Aang said sadly.

“It's not your fault, Aang,” She tried to console the boy. 

“Yes, it is! These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me!” He argued.

_ “ _ Then let's get out of here. Zuko and that monster will leave Kyoshi to follow us. I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way,” Katara said.

“I'll call Appa,” Aang conceded. 

* * *

Ghost was having fun taunting the Water Tribe boy. Every time Sokka tried to attack them, they simply Shadow Dashed away, just out of reach. 

“Stay still and let me hit you!” Sokka demanded.

**No thanks! This is more fun!**

Sokka let out a shout of frustration. Suddenly, Ghost’s head turned sharply to the side, at an angle that would’ve killed a human. Sokka went faintly green in the face. Ghost’s eyes were glued to a seemingly random house, before they let out a cry and ran towards it, leaving Sokka in the dust. He blinked a few times, and then felt extremely offended that the spirit had disregarded him so easily. He huffed before he ran off to go check on Suki.

* * *

**Friend!**

Ghost dug through the wooden rubble of the house to find Zuko. The protection spell should have prevented him from taking too much damage from the impact, but he’d still gotten buried in the rubble and probably needed help to get out.

They finally spotted a thrashing arm and they grasped it in one hand and continued to shift rubble. They finally pulled Zuko free, just in time for him to see the Avatar and friends flying away on that stupid bison again!

“Back to the ship! Don't lose sight of them!” Zuko commanded, already rushing back to the ship.

**Wait!**

“What?”

**The fires...the whole village will burn down if they aren’t put out.**

“Oh, I suppose that’s true…” Zuko hadn’t even truly noticed the burning village, he was so focused on pursuing the Avatar. He glanced up at the sky to see them flying further away. “Do you know their next destination? Has your foresight shown you anything?”

Ghost realized it was time for a little bit of acting. They already knew where the Gaang would go thanks to their memories, but they couldn’t exactly tell Zuko that. They put on a faraway expression before replying in a dazed tone.

**The city of Omashu is their next stop, but they won’t stay there long. Aang wants to visit an old friend of his, King Bumi. They will then stop at a small mining village in the Western Earth Kingdom. The girl will end up being arrested after she fakes earthbending and will be taken to an offshore prison rig. She will attempt to free the prisoners there.**

“Does she succeed?”

**Don’t know. Depends. There are many potential outcomes of that encounter, it’s too muddled to make out much.**

Zuko nodded, accepting that answer for the valuable information it was. He trusted Ghost’s judgement, and he knew that if anything truly important cropped up, they’de tell him. 

“Well, if we won’t encounter the Avatar again for some time, might as well take the time to put out the fires. I never meant for it to get this out of control anyway, but those girls just had to interfere!”

Zuko huffed out a breath before centering himself and calming his breathing. He reached out with his hands as well as his firebending, and took control of all the fire in the area. He exhaled slowly and brought his arms down, palms facing the ground. All the fires slowly snuffed out.

He looked around and winced a little. The town was severely damaged by both the fighting and the flames. The town would probably have to be abandoned. Zuko felt terrible about that, he didn’t mean to destroy the town! He just wanted the Avatar!

Ghost noticed the look that Zuko was making and Ghost felt bad about all the destruction too. Although fire could provide warmth and light, it was also incredibly destructive if it got out of control. Although they had never really practiced with the time-defying aspects of their Void powers, they could, theoretically, turn back the clock for the town. It was only objects, no living creatures, so it should be relatively simple. In theory.

**Have an idea to fix the town.**

“What? Ghost, I know we won’t see the Avatar again for a few weeks, but we don’t have time to stay here and try and rebuild the town!”

**Won’t take long, maybe fifteen minutes!**

“Okay, and you’ve lost me,” he said. “I know you can do a lot, but completely restoring the town in fifteen minutes sounds like a bit much.”

**Hmpf! Challenge accepted!**

Ghost moved to the middle of the town square and hunched over, completely focused on getting the Void based spell just right. After a couple of minutes of nothing happening, Zuko was about to make a smart-ass comment, but then a wave of darkness rushed out from Ghost’s still form. It washed over him, but other than a slight chill, nothing happened to him.

The town on the other hand, suddenly had lots happening to it. Dark motes of Void particles seemed to swirl around every displaced board and scorch mark. Before Zuko’s very eyes, the houses seemed to rebuild themselves. Boards and splinters of wood un-burned themselves and flew through the air before rejoining seamlessly with the rest of the component pieces, somehow creating a complete wooden plank from scattered pieces. 

The fallen Kyoshi warriors began regaining consciousness, and they watched in amazement and disbelief as the creature that killed the Unagi and destroyed their home used its powers to put everything back the way it was, as if the firebenders had never attacked!

After some minutes of Ghost continuing to direct the spell, they finally finished putting everything to rights. Ghost slumped and nearly fell over, legs shaking. That spell had taken a lot out of them and all they wanted to do was sleep for a week.

Zuko came and stood beside them, before gently grabbing one of their lower arms.

“Come on then, back to the ship. Uncle’s probably worried that we’ve been gone so long,” Zuko said. Ghost continued to lean heavily on him as they trudged their way back to the  _ Wani _ , leaving a confused village full of people behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY! Plot! Finally! lol the characters finally decided to cooperate :D Fo real tho, ghost kinda dropped the ball on forgetting about the Unagi until the last second, but then they just went and basically one-shot it. My reasoning is that all the enemies ghost has fought up until this point have had really tough exoskeletons, so they gotta start pulling their punches if they want anything fleshy to be a challenge anymore. Internet points if people can spot the reference i made!


	11. Ghost's School Of Witchcraft And Magic Bullshittery Is Now Open For Business!

“So, does anyone else wanna talk about how the Jerkbender has a bunch of spirit monsters working for him? ‘Cause I wanna talk about how the Jerkbender has a bunch of spirit monsters working for him,” Sokka deadpanned. “That thing hurt Suki and went right through me like I wasn’t there and laughed about it! It’s clearly an evil Fire Nation spirit if it’s helping that ponytailed asshole try and capture Aang!”

“Sokka, spirits aren’t evil, but they don’t tend to side with humans without a really good reason, they’re supposed to be neutral and not interfere with human affairs,” Aang explained. “This one is helping Zuko for some reason, but I don’t know why. Maybe he promised it something if it helped him? Those types of deals rarely end up well for the person, though...”

The Gaang was silent for a small time, before Katara piped up.

“Wait, Sokka, what do you mean it went through you?” Katara asked.

“It just turned into a shadow and went right through me! I mean, it didn’t hurt or anything, but it was super creepy!” Sokka said, gesticulating wildly with his arms.

“Wait, so it's not physical?” Aang questioned. “Maybe it’s weaker than the giant one?”

“No, it punched Suki and knocked her out, so it can still touch stuff,” Sokka replied.

“Maybe it can choose to be physical or not?” Katara questioned.

“That still doesn’t make any sense!” Aang yelled out in frustration. “The spirits can only ever cross over into the physical world when it’s close to a solstice, and they can get stuck outside the spirit world when it’s over if they don’t go back, but then they fade away, ‘cause the spirits aren’t meant to leave the spirit world!” 

He huffed out another breath before continuing. “For some reason, these spirits don’t seem to abide by the normal rules at all, and that has me worried,” Aang suddenly had a thought. “But what if they aren’t spirits at all…?”

“What do you mean, Aang? They’re clearly powerful, whatever they are, and they certainly aren’t someone running around with an octopus-squid on their head making spooky noises pretending to be a spirit!” Sokka yelled.

“That’s...oddly specific…” Aang started, but he was cut off by Sokka before he could finish.

“Not the point! What else could those things be if they aren’t spirits?” Sokka questioned frustratedly.

“Well, I’ve been thinking, you know how we found those little ghost things in the Southern Air Temple? The giant one looked like a much bigger version of them, and we got confirmation from them that the giant one was their sibling, right?” Aang said.

“Yeah, but what do those ones have to do with this new one? It looked way different from the shadowy things,” Katara said.

“But, the horns on its head were the same as the giant shadow one! That’s gotta mean something, right? What if this new one is an alive version of whatever creatures they are, and the shadowy ones are the spirits they leave behind after they die?” Aang said excitedly. 

“That makes some amount of sense, but that still doesn’t explain what it actually is or why it’s helping Zuko,” Katara pointed out. 

“That thing is dangerous! It’s smart enough to talk, and it can apparently fly, shoot giant exploding balls of darkness, and become untouchable whenever it wants! How are we supposed to fight something like that?!” Sokka shouted, waving his arms around again.

Aang adopted a thinking pose before looking defeated and said, “Yeeeeah, I’ve got nothing for that…”

They sat in silence for a small time after that.

“So...who wants to go ride the mail sleds in Omashu?!”

* * *

After Ghost’s stunning performance in Kyoshi, Zuko had taken them to their blanket nest in the darkest corner of the cargo hold where they’d slept for three days straight. After the first day Ghost spent totally unconscious, Zuko had started to go out of his mind with worry, and had spent a lot of his time down in the cargo hold as well, making sure his friend was still breathing.

There had been a bit of a scrambling panic when Ghost had suddenly gone completely limp in Zuko’s arms the second they were back on the ship. Ghost's mask didn’t have nostrils and their chest wasn’t expanding with their breathing, and for a terrifying moment Zuko had thought they’d died in his arms. 

He’d calmed down a bit when he realized that Ghost didn’t breathe like a human did. Instead of through a nose or mouth, they sucked in and expelled air through small slits in their sides, kind of like how a normal bug did. 

Zuko had felt a bit stupid after he realized that. Although Ghost definitely wasn’t an insect, they kinda looked and behaved a bit like one, and Zuko felt a bit foolish that they hadn’t considered the possibility that Ghost’s new physical body shared a few biological traits with bugs as well.

Zuko wondered if they could hold their breath for a long time, since a lot of time seemed to pass with each air exchange. It was definitely longer than Zuko could hold his breath for, not that he’d tried or anything stupid like that! He resolved to ask Ghost about it once they woke up.

* * *

Ghost groggily returned to the waking world with an audible hiss after the third day, badly startling Zuko who had been reading scrolls by candle light off to the side of their little nest.

“Ghost, you’re awake! Thank Agni, you’ve been asleep for three days!” Zuko had put down the scroll when they’d started to stir, and had moved to sit next to Ghost on the floor.

**Three days…? Huh, felt like longer.**

“Well, you’re awake now at any rate. Denki’s been lamenting your absence in the kitchen the entire time, at least he’ll shut up once he realizes his help’s awake again.” They both shared a small chuckle at the thought. “I know you said that the Avatar had moved inland and that our next encounter would be at that mining village, but do you have a time frame at all?”

**Not really, but I know it won’t be for at least a couple weeks.**

“All right then, might as well start sailing there, maybe we could set up an ambush?”

**No, if they get wind that you’re in the area, they will just pass the village by. They only stop to make camp for the night, not for any special reasons, so they’d just go somewhere else and then the knowledge would be useless.**

“Well, what do you propose we do for two weeks, then?”

**There’s a couple of theories I’ve been meaning to confirm, and now’s as good a time as any.**

“And what would those be?”

 **Every living creature possesses Soul, not simply** **_a_ ** **soul, but Soul, as in what some would consider life-force.**

“I know what Chi is, Ghost, where are you going with this?”

**I’m getting there! Be patient.**

Zuko huffed, before crossing his arms and giving Ghost a greatly exaggerated look of patience.

**The sass I get from you, honestly! Anyway, I’m not talking about Chi, Soul is separate from that. Higher Beings like myself can utilize Soul in different ways, mainly to cast spells, as you’ve seen. But, I’ve often wondered if other creatures could be taught to utilize it. The bugs in Hallownest mostly only channeled tiny amounts of Soul unconsciously to achieve higher thought, and that process was kick-started by something the Pale King did.**

**There were exceptions to rules, like the Soul Master who could cast a limited number of spells and float using Soul, and my old friend Quirrel, who could enhance his speed so much it looked like he was teleporting, but for the most part, the average bug could do very little with it. Humans, I’ve noticed, have a much larger amount of Soul in them, even though they do absolutely nothing with it. It’s completely inert inside of the body, but it still exists.**

Zuko uncrossed his arms and now looked intrigued.

**I’ve come to the conclusion that the ‘inert’ Soul inside a person has to be ‘activated’ in some manner to be actively used. Higher Beings, either when they’re born or after they Ascend, have it ‘activated’ by default. Even as a mere Vessel, I could use Soul in different ways, because I was the child of two different Higher Beings, and thus also a Higher Being from the time of my birth.**

**When I cast spells around humans, the Soul in their bodies responds a bit. It still doesn’t do much, but it moves around a little. When I cast the protection spell on you, your Soul responded much more strongly.**

“Really? I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t even realize the spell was there until it got activated during the Agni Kai,” Zuko said.

**Well, it was still inert in your body, but it moved around a little. Think of it like a pool of water. Normally, it’s completely still and nothing happens, but when I cast spells around you, it ripples. When I cast the protection spell directly on you, it was like I threw a rock into the middle of it. It jumped around a bit, but eventually settled down to ripples and then stillness again. Interestingly, your uncle’s pond seems to have holes in it, his Soul leaks out a tiny bit. It’s kind of weird and I’ve never seen that before, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting him any.**

“I wonder if that’s why he can see spirits? He always said that his trip to the spirit world changed something in him...” Zuko looked thoughtful at the idea.

**Anyway, I think that if I actively channel Soul into you and teach you how to feel it, you could draw it out all by yourself, and use it to do all kinds of things! It would be kind of like giving you a bucket to take water from the pond so you could go do things with it!**

“You mean, you might be able to teach me how to use magic like you do?! With the exploding darkness balls and protection spells and things?!” Zuko could hardly believe his ears, that would be a massive advantage over the Avatar if he could get it to work! A smaller, pettier part of Zuko was extremely pleased at the thought of being able to do something Azula would never be able to, no matter how hard she tried.

**If it works! And your spells would be a bright white like Soul is, the darkness in some of my spells comes from putting some Void into them, and Void is exclusive to me and my siblings. Don’t get too excited, it might not even work, but it’s worth a shot, right?**

Zuko nodded eagerly, “So, how do you ‘activate’ my Soul, anyway? Will it hurt?”

**It shouldn’t hurt, using Soul feels nice like a warm bath, though it tires you out if you use too much too quickly, but you can’t die from Soul overuse. You just run out and have to wait for your body to make more after resting a bit or absorbing it from the environment or other living creatures.**

Zuko resolved to ask about the whole ‘absorbing Soul from other living creatures’ thing if this whole magic idea worked out for him. “Okay, so how are we going to do this?”

**I think the easiest way would be to use my Soul to Focus while channeling it through you. It’s the simplest possible application of Soul magic, all you do is move it around rapidly in your body, and it greatly speeds up healing. It’s super simple because it’s all internal. Once Soul leaves your body is when it gets tricky. Easiest way to channel through you would be physical contact.**

“Wait, so all you’ve got to do is give me a Soul-powered hug? That’s it?” Zuko sounded a bit skeptical at that, but was willing to give it a try if it meant getting access to cool magic powers.

**Mmmhmm, now com’ere, you!**

With that, Ghost lunged across the small space between them, engulfing Zuko in a massive hug and inadvertently pressing Zuko’s face into their fluff. Zuko was about to start yelling at Ghost for that, before the strangest sensation went through his body. At first it was like an odd, tingling buzz through his whole body before it morphed into a nice warmth flowing through him. 

_Ghost was right, it does kinda feel like a warm bath…_ Zuko thought.

Then, he felt some kind of barrier inside of him give way. The slow, trickling warmth became a blazing inferno! He shoved away from Ghost in surprise. It didn’t hurt, exactly, but it felt like he was stuffed too full of something. His skin felt too small -- like he was going to burst --! 

A large mass of white energy exploded from him. It flew across the room and impacted the far wall with a loud bang, frightening the komodo-rhinos in their pens. Aza came running in from the hallway to see what all the fuss was about, just in time to witness Zuko glowing with a soft, white light before it faded.

“What in the hell is going on in here?!” Aza demanded, quickly going over to calm the rhinos down.

**Congratulations! You’re a wizard, Zuko!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol, let the magic shenanigans commence! Ghost's school of witchcraft and magic bullshit is now open! Behold, more headcanons about how the HK verse's magic system works! I did my best to explain everything but i dont really like giant info dumps, i tried to avoid it here, but didnt really see a way around it without having to write like 3 extra chapters. you can bet your asses this giant reveal of how ghost can grant magic powers basically at will is gonna come back and bite everyone later...north pole, anyone?


	12. A Tale As Old As Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, bitches, its time for angst!! Trigger warnings for a very brief mention of vaguely suicidal thoughts!! It's nothing too bad, but I want to warn everybody anyway. As someone who has struggled with depression in the past, I can vouch for the effectiveness of mental therapy and appropriate medication! If you are struggling with mental health, it's okay to ask for help!! Stay safe out there!

Word had spread like wildfire after Ghost got done explaining to Aza that Zuko could use magic now, courtesy of Ghost’s own special brand of bullshit. Aza was a notorious gossip, so naturally, everyone on the ship knew about it come morning. The next day it seemed like the entirety of the crew had squeezed themselves into one corner of the  _ Wani’s _ deck to watch Zuko’s first magic lesson.

Iroh was visibly nervous about letting his nephew muck about with magic, but he also didn’t want Zuko to not have control over his new powers, so they allowed the lessons. He had already chewed Ghost out over doing an experimental magical procedure on his nephew without consulting him first, but there wasn’t much he could do about it after the fact.

Unbeknownst to Ghost, letting themselves get publicly yelled at by Iroh actually improved their relationship with the crew. They hadn’t reacted to the yelling at all besides being somewhat apologetic, and that had eased some of the crew’s fear regarding how aggressive Ghost would be if confronted. The answer was not very, unless Zuko was threatened, then all bets were off.

* * *

“So, are you all just going to stand around watching me?” Zuko asked, sort of fed up with all the staring from the crew.

“Well, yeah, kinda. It’s not every day you get to see your captain learn magic from an ancient spirit,” Aza chimed in.

“You’re all impossible! Whatever, I don’t care. Ghost, how are we doing this?” Zuko asked impatiently.

**First step is fairly simple, the easiest bit of magic to do is Focusing. You just circulate your Soul around in your body really fast, and it greatly speeds up healing. While it can’t regrow any bits you lose, and it doesn’t do much for scar tissue, it’ll heal just about anything else. With practice, you can Focus while channeling it through someone else, and while it’s not as effective as it is on yourself, it will help heal the other person, too.**

“That sounds...stupidly useful. I wish I could do that. I’d make my job way easier...” Came the voice of Lin, the only other female crew mate. 

She was the ship’s medic, and was the one who had cared for Zuko’s scar. While Zuko was forever grateful that she’d managed to save his hearing and eyesight, he was always a bit wary of her, since she’d seen him at his weakest. She slept in the med bay, and had probably heard Zuko crying out for his mother in his sleep when he was delirious with pain.

**Would you like to learn?**

“Wait, you could teach me magic too?” Came her incredulous voice.

**Yes, I would have to activate your Soul first though, but it doesn’t hurt and is relatively easy.**

“Holy shit, really?! How does it work, what do I have to do?” She said excitedly. All she ever wanted to do in life was try and heal some of the pain brought on by the war, and if this friendly spirit could give her magic healing powers, and she didn’t have to trade her immortal soul or her firstborn or something, she’d friggin’ take that offer in a heartbeat!

“Ghost just has to hug you for an uncomfortably long time,” Came the deadpan voice of her once-patient and captain. The crew laughed a bit at that, but stopped once they realized that both Ghost and Zuko continued to look quite serious about it.

“Wait, you’re not having us on? A hug?! That’s it?!” Jee’s voice rose above the crowd’s muttering.

**Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that on my end, but yes.**

Lin suddenly shoved past all the stupid, burly men standing in between her and free healing powers, before getting a running start and glomping Ghost chanting, “Gimme, gimme, gimme!”

Ghost caught her and spun her around, before snuggling into her. They loved any positive physical contact they could get, especially when it was given so freely! They’d started purring without realizing it, but got to work unlocking Lin’s Soul.

The crew all stared as a purring Ghost and Lin started to glow a soft white, with small glinting particles shimmering into existence around them. They gently rocked her back and forth, enjoying the hug while it lasted, and then Lin gasped and they quickly set her down. She stayed glowing for a good few moments after they let go, but she didn’t have the same explosive reaction that Zuko did.

“Oh! I didn’t expect it to be so...warm! Is this what being a firebender feels like?”

**I wouldn’t know, but you can feel your Soul now, right? A warm rushing feeling?**

“Oh, yeah! It feels nice, kinda like sunbathing!” She chirped.

“Wait, it’s that easy? Lin can just do magic now?” Jee was dumbfounded.

**Well, she has to learn how to use it, but yes, she is fully capable of controlling Soul now.**

Zuko stood off to the side, a little peeved at the interruption, but it was Ghost’s decision if they wanted to grant powers, not his, so he kept his mouth shut.

**Anyone else?**

There was silence for a small moment on the deck, before everyone started yelling all at once! No one paid any attention to Zuko, who was facepalming off in the corner, already anticipating that this was going to cause him an endless amount of headaches.

* * *

While most people had opted out, Ghost was now in charge of teaching their new pupils the ins and outs of magic. They wondered if this is what Nailmaster Mato had felt when he had taught Ghost the Cyclone Slash. Their heart swelled as they recalled the bug who had been a much better father-figure than their actual father ever was.

They brought their attention back to the seven or so people who now possessed access to their Soul. Zuko, Aza, Lin, Jee, and Li were all there, along with two other crew members that Ghost didn’t know too well. They were a pair of identical twins named Nako and Noko. They both worked in the ship's engine room and liked to confuse everyone by acting and looking as similar as possible. Ghost instructed everyone to sit down and assume a meditative pose.

**Soul is different from Chi, it doesn’t sit in the stomach, but rather in the center of the chest, just behind the sternum.**

Ghost pointed at the appropriate place on their own chest before continuing.

**Soul is everywhere, in the ground, in the air, but it is most concentrated in living creatures, and humans especially. Your bodies will naturally generate more Soul slowly over time with food and rest, but you can also absorb it passively out of the air or by forcibly taking it from others.**

“Wait, you can just steal it right out of people?!” Came the voice of Lin. “Does that hurt the other person?”

**Not particularly. Even if you stole all their Soul, nothing much would happen aside from fatigue on their end. Soul is most easily absorbed when freely given, but the next easiest way is to take it during combat. You can forcibly steal Soul when your will to take it is greater than the target’s ability to hold onto it. As most humans don’t even know that Soul exists, it would be like taking candy from a particularly weak and inept grub.**

Ghost stopped for a moment to let them all absorb the new info before continuing.

**During combat, inhibitions are lowered and the mind is more unguarded, being more focused on the action happening in front of it and less on holding onto its internal energy stores. A person who knew what was happening and had a strong will could resist it slightly, but without being able to manipulate their own Soul, it’s an almost useless endeavor.**

The group looked thoughtful about this and Ghost decided to continue. 

**There are a couple more esoteric ways to gather and store Soul in outside containers to increase your capacity, but I don’t have any of them with me to show you, so that lesson will wait for another day.**

**Are you all with me so far?**

After getting only nodding heads, Ghost continued on with the lecture.

**Everyone’s storage capacity and recharge rates will be slightly different, and there are ways to increase both of those, but we’ll get into that later. First, I want everyone to close their eyes and try and feel their Soul. While this is similar to meditation for the firebenders among us, it is not the same.**

**Don’t focus on your breathing at all, Soul has nothing to do with that. Instead focus on your heartbeat, on the warmth inside you. Not your inner flame, just your body heat. Do not focus on the sun or any outside stimuli besides my voice and your own bodies.**

**Once you can feel it inside of you, try to move it. Don’t grab onto it, but let it flow through you. Try to move the rushing feeling throughout your whole body, your limbs, your head, your chest, everywhere.**

Ghost waited until everyone started showing signs of Focusing.

**Now, open your eyes.**

The class did so and Ghost observed widened eyes and excited exclamations over their glowing bodies. Without focusing on the feeling, the glow faded and everyone soon settled back down.

**Congratulations, you just Focused your Soul! Now, the next step is to be able to do it while you're awake and moving around! Everyone get up, stretch out your limbs, and walk around the edge of the deck while trying to Focus your Soul. If anyone starts to feel fatigued, come see me and I’ll show you how to absorb Soul from a willing donor.**

Several minutes of walking and frustrated grumbling ensued when their students found the exercise challenging. Ghost occasionally called out tips and encouragements for each person when they saw anyone struggling. After about half an hour of varying levels of success, Zuko came to them requesting more Soul.

**Alright everyone, gather round and we’ll start the next part. Friend, grab my hand at the wrist and I’ll do the same. Soul transfer is easiest done with contact, as I’ve already shown you.**

Zuko shuffled forward and gently grasped Ghost’s large wrist in their comparatively small hand.

**Now Friend, I’m going to start circulating my Soul closer to my shell, and what you need to do is reach out with your will and pull my Soul into yourself. Since this is a willing transfer, it should be very easy for you, since I want you to have it. Against an unwilling target, this would be a bit harder. Doing this to another Soul user who is fighting the transfer would be much more difficult, and maybe even impossible if they were strong enough.**

Soon enough, a visible ribbon of white light was flowing from Ghost’s arm into Zuko's.

“Wow! There’s so...so much! It’s like staring into the sun!” Zuko exclaimed. Then, he got a confused look on his face. The transfer ended and he asked them, “When you were giving it to me, it felt like there were...other things sort of, hiding behind it? One felt really cold and dark, but the other felt blazing hot and was even brighter than the Soul!”

**Ah, interesting, I was wondering if you’d pick up on that. The cold, dark feeling you sensed was the Void, and the other hotter one was probably my Essence.**

“What are Void and Essence? Are they like different forms of Soul?” Li asked.

**Not at all. Those two are completely unique to me. The Void is a living paradox, it is timeless and unchanging, yet fleeting and ever-shifting. It is the oblivion from which all things sprung forth and to which all shall eventually return. It was the first and last thing to exist, it is darkness without end or beginning. It is the purest representation of myself.**

“Wow, uh...that sounds...intense...um, what about Essence?” Came the unsteady voice of Aza.

**Essence is both simpler and more complicated to explain. I acquired it after I Ascended and consumed the Old Light and took Her powers for myself. It is the thoughts and dreams of sentient beings, condensed into pure energy, hence the light and heat.**

**There exists a separate realm, called the Dream Realm, where Essence can become anything you can imagine. With enough skill, you can even take physical objects into and out of it. The Dreamnail is one such example of an object created in the Dream Realm out of pure Essence that was taken into the real world. Using Essence and the Dreamnail as a conduit, you can connect your mind with another’s directly to communicate, or use it to enter the dreams of a sleeping target. It can even transport the wielder to far-off locations, at the cost of using some Essence to do it.**

**Essence has no true limits or hard rules aside from what your own mind imposes on it, but the same could be said of Void. Traditionally, Essence and Void do not mix, as one will cancel out the other. Too much Essence can overload and burn Void away, too much Void will swallow the light of Essence and consume it.**

“Wait, so how do you have both at the same time?” Zuko asked curiously. “They didn’t seem in conflict from what I felt. They didn’t mix together, sure, but they were coexisting.”

**That is my doing. I am the Lord and Master of two Realms, the Abyss and the Dream Realm. I control both at the same time, I keep my Void from swallowing my Essence, and I keep my Essence from burning away my Void. It is a delicate balance, but one that comes naturally to me.**

“Wow, so you must be like, a big deal in the spirit world then, huh?” Lin said.

**I keep hearing these terms, that I am a ‘spirit’ and that there is a place called the ‘spirit world’. I am unfamiliar with those terms.**

“What? How is that possible? You are a spirit and you came from the spirit world, surely? That’s how you do magic and shape-shift and stuff right?” Jee asked, now slightly concerned. Concerned about what exactly, he didn’t know, but he was concerned all the same.

**No. I have never been to this ‘spirit world’, and I am what’s known as a ‘Higher Being’. I lived in an old kingdom called Hallownest, long since crumbled to dust, and after I clawed my way to the top of Godhome and Ascended, I returned to my birthplace in the Abyss to sleep.**

**When I woke up, everything was different. What little was left of Hallownest was gone completely, the landmasses were all different, the wastelands were gone, and there were new things in the sky that hadn’t been there before. A strange, burning orb that hurt to look at, and a much dimmer one that brought darkness. Before, there had only been an empty grey sky that never changed.**

**The world was empty and desolate everywhere I went, so I again returned to the Abyss to sleep and look after my siblings. I honed what few skills I could still reasonably utilize while in my Shade Lord form, and slept when I was bored, which was often. Eventually, on one of my excursions to the outside world, I discovered that a massive temple had been built on top of the entrance to the Abyss. I didn’t find anyone alive, only old remains. I cleaned the temple up a bit and let my siblings have free run of the place, but I fell into despair when I thought I had missed the window of civilization, of meeting other living beings.**

**I was crushingly lonely. My siblings helped a little, but they are only shades, imprints of what they were in life. They cannot truly change or grow over time as the living can, and so do not make for dynamic, stimulating company. I spent even more time asleep after that. Sleeping was easier than being awake, and I didn’t dream unless I wished to, though at that point I think I started to hallucinate. I think I started wishing to just sleep forever at some point, but I always woke up again eventually.  
**

**It was during one of my short waking periods that Friend Zuko found me, and I knew that there must be some kind of civilization out there, I just hadn’t bothered to look for it in my despair. When he asked me questions regarding the Avatar, all my strange dreams began to make sense, the fantastical places and strange creatures I saw weren’t just the products of my slowly eroding mind, but visions that my foresight had granted me.**

**I gave him the information that he sought because he intrigued me and I was so very lonely. I decided to secretly follow him to observe the outside world again, but I revealed myself so I could protect him from those seeking to do him harm. He was the first living being to speak to me in eons and though our meetings were short, I considered him a friend, and** **_no one hurts my friends and gets away with it!_ **

Ghost had actually snarled that last bit, sounding genuinely angry. The gathered crew members all made a silent pact to never so much as look at Zuko the wrong way ever again, and Zuko tried his hardest to not look embarrassed in front of his crew.

They all stewed in the silence left in Ghost’s wake, slowly processing all the information Ghost had just dumped on them.

“How long does it take for continents to shift and mountains to form…? For people to suddenly be around...?  _ For the sun and moon to form in the sky...? _ ” Zuko breathed.

Ghost gave him a heartbreakingly sad look and dark tears began to drip slowly down their face.

**A very long time, Friend...a very long time, indeed.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how about that drama bomb, eh?? We finally get the answer about how Ghost got into the AtLA verse! Turns out they were always there, but hallownest existed millions of years before AtLA and ghost slept for so long that the entire planet shifted around them, bugs are all gone and now humans are the dominant species! As for the whole sun/moon/sky thing, when we are in-game in dirtmouth, the sky never changes, there is no sunrise or sunset, and the only reference to daytime or the sun that i clearly remember is when you dreamnail the radiance, one of the possible lines is 'DAWN WILL BREAK', I took that to mean that there was no day-night cycle in hallownest at the time, maybe because the king put the kingdom in stasis or maybe because it was always overcast, or the radience acted as a light source before she was sealed away? Who tf knows? not ghost, all they knew is that one day there a big burny ball in the sky and they hated it cause it reminded them of the radiance.


	13. ~You'll Never Know Dear, How Much I Love You~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo! Double update, my muse is on fire! I doubt I'll be able to keep up this pace for too much longer, so I'll leave you on a cliffy because i'm evil >:D Ngl tho I legit made myself cry writing this chapter, you'll see why. Angst ahoy!

The magic lesson for that day had concluded after a very awkward group hug session where everyone tried to calm Ghost down. It helped slightly, but Ghost was still a bit subdued for the rest of the day. They’d practically plastered themselves to Zuko’s side for the rest of the day, looking at him like he might disappear if they looked away for too long.

Zuko didn’t really know how to deal with something like that being revealed to him, so he allowed Ghost to be clingy without fussing about it too much. He was still having trouble processing the fact that his usually overprotective goofball of a friend was not only some kind of powerful being that wasn’t a spirit, but that they predated basically everything else that currently existed.

Ghost’s behavior was an odd thing. Sometimes they’d act like a wise all-knowing being beyond human comprehension, and other times they’d goof around and act like a somewhat impertinent child. Zuko didn’t quite know what to make of it, but at least they usually acted somewhere in the middle. Zuko likened it to a child that had grown up too fast and only then had the opportunity to act their age, except that Ghost was actually older the the heavens themselves.

Currently, they’d wedged themselves into a corner of Zuko’s quarters and had fallen asleep after some time of watching him attempt to stretch the ship’s meager budget as far as possible. Zuko eventually put the finance logs away and was gazing contemplatively at his ancient friend. 

A glinting over in the corner caught his eye. It was the inert form of the Dreamnail Ghost had gifted to him, stating that they no longer needed it, so Zuko might as well keep it. He quietly padded over to it and held it up to the dim candlelight. The light reflected off its curved surfaces oddly, and it was strangely warm in his hand, even though he’d just picked it up off the cold floor.

He eyed the concentric metal loops in the middle, and could see the sleeping form of Ghost through the webbed metal struts. Ghost said it could be used to enter the minds of sleeping people, but should he even be considering it? 

_ Would Ghost be mad if I used it on them? _ Then Zuko thought about how Ghost treated them in general.  _ I could probably kill someone right in front of them and they’d just ask me if I wanted help hiding the body. _

With his mind made up, Zuko quietly sat down next to his friend before activating the Dreamnail and passing its intangible blade through Ghost’s still form.

* * *

Zuko found himself standing on a strange floating platform in a brightly lit, golden expanse filled with shining clouds. He could see another floating platform slightly above his current position.

_ I’m getting a serious sense of deja vu here, except this time I’m going up. _

When he attempted to leap up to the platform, he found himself being propelled much more quickly than he expected. Gravity had a much looser hold on him than it ever had before. Looking around for the next platform he made his way further up, almost flying.

It didn’t take him long to come across a much larger mass looming out of the clouds. He landed on it and was met with a bizarre sight.

Strange, bandage-wrapped figures wearing shining bronze masks sat motionless on almost every conceivable surface. They paid Zuko absolutely no attention, even when he walked right in front of them or yelled at them, it was like he didn’t exist. He eventually tried touching one, but his hand went right through them like mist.

Then, he’d heard approaching footsteps and was met with the sight of a living version of one of the little sibling ghosts. Its shell was unblemished by cracks or age and it walked with confidence. The top of its head barely reached Zuko’s hip, but the curved, pronged horns added an extra foot and a half of height. it wore a dark cloak with a tattered hem and carried a strange sword on its back that honestly looked more like a tiny, flat lance than a sword. 

The sword was etched with breathtakingly fine details, but the blade still held a sharp edge, so despite its ornamentation, it was clearly a functional blade. It walked to the edge of the platform and began clambering up to the second floor. Zuko easily followed thanks to the reduced gravity, and after a bit more climbing, they arrived upon the roof. A strange fountain spewing what Zuko thought could be Void stood in the center. 

The sibling creature also seemed unaware of Zuko’s presence, but Zuko followed it anyway. The creature touched the strange fountain and a white mist swallowed them both. A strange echoing voice assailed them. The language was completely alien, all hisses and chitters and chirps, but it was definitely a language. The voice sounded somewhat upset, but soon left.

The white mist in front of the pair dissipated and revealed a small room with a shallow pool of glowing water and a short, sturdy bench. The sibling creature plodded over to the bench and sat down, before reaching into the folds of its cloak and retrieving a flatish, intricately carved metal case. It flipped the latches open and began fiddling with something on its cloak’s collar while staring into the case.

Zuko walked around behind it to see what was in the case, and was met with the sight of dozens of tiny metal objects, each bearing a completely unique design, although some shared similarities. They were each about the size of one of Zuko’s finger joints, and the tiny creature seemed to deliberate over them for a long time before choosing a red-accented one that resembled a face. 

The creature pinned the metal circle to its cloak and a flare of scarlet fire blazed into existence above its head. A strange, winged, serpentine creature appeared from within the flame and it let out an admittedly adorable cry before swooping down to nuzzle the sibling creature’s face.

The being’s small arms came up to tenderly cradle the winged snake-thing. It held the snake-thing in its arms with infinite care, and cradled it to its chest before it started to rock it back and forth like one would a baby. Thick, dark tears cascaded slowly down its face as it stared at the small snake-thing like it would never see it again.

The sibling creature carefully cradled the snake-thing’s face in its hands and gently pressed their foreheads together. Faintly, Zuko could barely make out a very soft voice. 

**I love you, I love you, I’ll never forget you, grow up big and strong! I bet you’ll be such a heartbreaker, just like your Daddy was. Don’t cause too much trouble for Auntie Hornet, okay? Momma loves you so much. You’re so loved, little one, more than you could ever know.**

They stayed like that for a long time before the creature slowly reached down and unfasened the pin from its cloak. The snake thing disappeared in another flash of scarlet flame and the sibling creature began to weep in earnest. It sobbed completely silently, arms wrapped around itself, chest heaving with breaths it could not take.

The sadness and love and intimacy of the the scene suddenly hit Zuko like a runaway Earth Kingdom tank. He felt a few tears escape his eyes involuntarily as he realized he was witnessing a mother say good-bye to their child for the final time. Was this what his own mother felt when she had to leave him?

Then, he remembered one of the first conversations he ever had with Ghost, where they described a being of fire that had given them the gift of a child. It hit him like a ton of bricks that the sibling creature was Ghost, only much younger. That snake-thing was probably Grimmchild! Was this place a scene from Ghost’s memories?

The younger Ghost wiped the tears from their face and sat up straighter, staring at the metal pin-case with a newfound fervor. 

They quickly selected a small handful before pinning them all on. They sat up from the bench and Zuko could hear Ghost’s voice again, only this time it was louder, and so much angrier. Angrier than Zuko had ever heard them.

**Gonna kill Her, gonna kill every stupid fake dream-version of everyone, gonna claw my way to the top and make Her wish She’d never been born! Gonna stab Her in Her stupid bright face, gonna Abyss shriek until She can’t hear anymore, gonna rip out all Her stupid fluff and pluck off Her wings!**

**Gonna do it for Hollow, and Hornet, and Conifer, and Iselda, and Quirrel! For Myla, and Bretta, and Elderbug, and Cloth, and the Stag! For Mato, and Sheo, and Oro, and Sly! Even for stupid old Zote! But I’ll do it for you most of all, little one, so you know what it’s like to be a child, to grow up loved, and cherished, and wanted, as I never was!**

**For all of my friends, I’ll kill you, you miserable Old Light! Do you hear me?! I AM GHOST, and I’m coming for you, you spiteful old BITCH!**

They unsheathed their strange, shining, sliver sword and charged through the open doorway and into a large area. Zuko quickly followed, unsure of what was coming next.

* * *

Zuko witnessed Ghost kill challenger after challenger, whispering to themselves that they weren’t actually real, that they were fakes, magicked up by the Godseekers to test them. Not their friends, never their friends. They’d never hurt their friends. They’d rather die first.

Zuko saw a veritable menagerie of strange creatures, some that seemed intelligent, and some that decidedly weren’t. Zuko almost hurled when Ghost had to fight a seemingly identical version of themselves, when it suddenly transformed into a monster right out of the darkest depths of the spirit world, wearing Ghost’s face all the while.

Zuko was on the edge of his metaphorical seat when a tall, red bug with horns that greatly resembled the Grimmchild stepped out into the arena. This must be Grimm, then. Ghost seemed incensed when the fake Grimm bowed to the biggest Godseeker that seemed to be running the place. 

**How dare you desecrate his memory with this -- this mockery! How dare you! He’d never bow to someone like you -- you wretched, simpering, pathetic creature! How dare you pervert our dances together with this farce! I’ll crush you to dust once I’m through with Her!**

Ghost was absolutely vicious during that fight, and only became more so once Grimm seemed to change forms slightly during the second phase of the fight. Ghost fought like they didn’t expect to leave this place alive, taking brutal blows and simply healing over the damage instead of dodging.

They’d started crying at some point during the fight, and almost collapsed once it was over. They retreated into the side room that appeared afterwards, but it wasn’t long before they emerged again.

If Ghost seemed upset at having to fight Grimm, they went absolutely ballistic upon viewing the next challenger. It greatly resembled Ghost’s current body back on Zuko’s ship.

**No, not Hollow! Haven’t they suffered enough?! Is nothing sacred to you?!**

Ghost let out a wordless scream of rage and threw themselves into the fight. Despite the fake Hollow being exceptionally skilled at fighting, they were no match for Ghost’s sheer determination and rage.

Zuko knew that if Ghost was this good at fighting with swords and magic when they were still tiny, no human alive would ever come close to even challenging Ghost now that they’d grown and gained an extra pair of arms.

* * *

The fight came to a close and Zuko was suddenly transported to a new arena. The crowd had vanished, only the largest Godseeker was there. Ghost climbed to the highest available platform and unsheathed their sword. The ground shook and and a bright shape moved in the distance. 

An enormous being burst into existence, easily as big as Ghost’s Shade Lord form. The being resembled a butterfly-moth, but it had what looked almost like a knife as a lower body. Its wings were strangely tattered and it was covered in fluff that resembled Ghost’s. It had a set of three horns upon its head that resembled a crown. Its shriek was shrill and piercing, and Ghost responded by letting loose an Abyss Shriek spell from underneath it.

The battle lasted the longest of any of them so far, and it was savage. Ghost and the shining butterfly-moth, probably what they referred to as the ‘Old Light’ now that he thought about it, were absolutely in this to the death. This was a knock-down drag-out fight only one of them was leaving alive, and Zuko already knew for a fact that Ghost won.

Soon enough the Old Light had retreated further up into the sky. Zuko followed easily since gravity had long since stopped applying to him in this strange place, and he got to witness Ghost land the final blow. Ghost struck the Old Light, but then their shell shattered and a small ball of darkness fell into the roiling dark fog beneath them. Suddenly, Ghost, in their Shade Lord form, emerged.

What followed was absolutely brutal. Ghost did everything they said they would and more. The Old Light’s body was torn to shreds and she died screaming in agony before being drug into the frothing dark by Ghost’s tendrils. 

Then, Ghost turned their attention to the Godseeker and strangled its struggling form before consuming that as well. Ghost used their immense newfound power to utterly decimate Godhome, no two bits were left stacked on top of each other after they were done.

Suddenly, everything seemed to shift two feet to the left and then back again. Ghost’s eight eyes suddenly met his, and Zuko knew that he’d been spotted. 

There was a great rushing of air and Zuko felt himself propelled backwards. 

His eyes shot open and he jolted upright off the floor. The awake form of Ghost sat across from him. Ghost pulled themselves as upright as they could in the low-ceilinged room and left without saying a word. 

  
Zuko realized that he’d fucked up. He’d fucked up  _ hard _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how about that huh? Zuko showing that typical teenage 'im invincible' attitude and not fully considering the consequences of his actions. if iroh knew what he did he'd smack Zuko upside the head for being an inconsiderate jerk (and then offer Ghost All The Tea)


	14. Zuko: I'm Not A Baby! Ghost: You Is Totally Baby :3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ghost and zuko have a talk. it either went great or disastrously bad depending on who you asked. Ghost's repressed emotional trauma comes back to bite everyone. this is why therapy exists, guys! also we get more Ghost/Grimm backstory, so enjoy that. I dont think i made anything too graphic, but let me know in the comments if i should up the rating or whatever. enjoy :D

Even though he wanted to, Zuko didn’t chase after Ghost to apologize or try to explain himself. They probably wanted to be left alone for a while, so Zuko would give them some time to cool off before doing anything that might make the situation worse.

Zuko could hear loud impacts of something hitting the ocean and felt the hum of Soul-usage in the air, even all the way in his quarters. He continued to berate himself for his stupidity.

_Ghost must be so angry...why did I do that? I’m so stupid! Typical Zuko, ruining everything without even meaning to. Spirits, Azula would never mess up this bad..._

A soft knocking came from the other side of his door. Zuko padded over and cautiously opened it. It was Uncle, holding a tray laden with tea paraphernalia. Zuko opened the door a little wider and let him inside.

Iroh placed the tea set down on the low table and began preparing a fresh pot of tea, motioning for Zuko to sit down across from him.

The tea was made and served in complete silence, Uncle simply sitting across from him. Finally, Zuko couldn’t take it anymore.

“Well, aren’t you going to say anything?!”

“... And what do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know! Something -- anything! I messed up bad, Uncle, and I don’t know how to fix it!” Zuko yelled, glaring into his teacup like it held the secrets of the universe.

“Well, generally, when one party causes grievance to another party, apologies and reparations are made to resolve the issue,” Iroh stated calmly, sipping his tea.

“I know that! But how do I even begin to apologize for violating their privacy like that?!”

“Well, I don’t know what exactly you did to cause them upset, so why don’t explain to me what happened and we can go from there?” Iroh tried gently.

Zuko worked his jaw for a moment, certain that Uncle would become angry with him as well, once he realized how badly Zuko had messed up, but he squared his shoulders and started talking, if only to get it all over with faster.

“Well, they fell asleep in my room, and I got curious and I wasn’t thinking, so...Imight’veusedtheDreamnailonthemwithoutpermisson?” He spat out in a rush.

Iroh was quiet for a small moment trying to decipher his word vomit. “So, you used the gift that they gave you to look into their mind without permission?” Iroh asked, his eyebrows climbing up towards his receding hairline. “I see, no wonder they would be upset with you.”

Zuko only nodded miserably, “I saw some of their memories, some that seemed really private...I didn’t know that would happen or I wouldn’t’ve done it...I just wasn’t thinking and I did something stupid...again…”

Zuko and Iroh sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping tea, before Iroh spoke again.

“Well, it seems to me that you should apologize and explain your actions, but not to excuse them! Just so that Ghost knows you didn’t purposefully try to pry into their past, but that you did anyway and are very sorry about the breach of trust. Then, you should offer to do something to show how sorry you are, something to try and make it up to them, so that they know you are sincere. Actions speak louder than words, Prince Zuko, remember that.”

“...Yeah, that sounds like a good idea…”

Zuko rose from the low table and turned to his uncle.

“Thanks for the advice”

“It was my pleasure, Nephew,” Iroh said with a warm smile.

Zuko simply nodded and left to go find Ghost.

* * *

He found them up on the deck, furiously shooting off a plethora of magical projectiles into the water. Shining lances made of light, explosive balls of darkness, and everything in between. Though they lacked the ability to sweat, they seemed to be tiring with the effort.

Zuko looked around and noticed that the deck was devoid of people. They had all likely left in the almost palpable force of Ghost’s anger.

Zuko swallowed nervously before addressing them.

“Ghost, I...I just wanted to apologize for my inexcusable breach of your trust…”

Ghost had ceased launching projectiles, but had still not turned to face him. Even though they couldn’t see it, Zuko bowed deeply at the waist in a manner fit for addressing an older person deserving of great respect. 

“...What I did was horrible, and, and, I didn’t know that would happen, but that doesn’t excuse the fact I still did it, and I’m so sorry, and you can take the Dreamnail back if you want -- and --!”

Zuko was abruptly pulled upright and enfolded in a hug. Ghost had crouched down to Zuko’s height and had pulled him into a gentle hug, shoving his face into their fluff like they always did.

**I was never angry with you, I was only terrified that you’d used the Dreamnail on me. My memories are not a happy place, Friend, and you are lucky you only saw my Ascension and not the uncountable years of isolation and loneliness that followed.**

They pulled back from the hug, but still gently gripped Zuko’s upper arms in their hands.

**Memories or dreams viewed using the Dreamnail are witnessed in real-time by the wielder, even though only seconds may pass in the physical world. You could have been trapped for eons in my mind, witnessing millenniums pass by like sand in an hourglass. Your mind would have broken like an egg -- you could’ve gone insane or worse...!**

They took a shuddering inhale through the vents in their sides before continuing.

**It is my duty to protect you and I could have almost killed you by accident! Yes, you used the Dreamnail on me without permission, but I certainly never asked before using it on anybody back when I was adventuring through Hallownest, either! I could never blame you for being curious.**

**It’s alright Friend, you’re forgiven.**

“Oh...well, I’m glad you’re not mad about it, but I still feel terrible...is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

Ghost released his arms and stood upright before looking thoughtful. Then, Zuko got the impression that they were smirking at him, even though their face was completely incapable of expression like that.

_Honestly, how do they keep doing that?!_

**Now that you mention it, there is something you can help me with. Bring me the Dreamnail, and don’t worry, it was a gift, and you don’t take back a gift once it’s been given. Reliving the memory of my Ascension reminded me that I forgot to take any of my things with me when I left the Abyss to follow you, and I’d like to get my stuff back.**

Zuko wasn’t quite sure how the Dreamnail would help with that, but he’d do pretty much anything to stop feeling this crushing guilt. He knew that Ghost had forgiven him, but that didn’t make all his awful feelings magically disappear.

He swiftly retrieved the discarded Dreamnail off the floor of his empty bedroom and returned to a waiting Ghost. He quickly handed it over.

Ghost took the Dreamnail in their right-upper hand, and began explaining.

**As I’ve already said, the Dreamnail can do lots of things, two things we’ll be doing with it today are making a Dreamgate and using it to cut into the Dream Realm itself. The Dream Realm does not line up with the physical world quite right, so you can enter it in one location and exit it in a totally different place then where you entered it from. The Dreamgate simply expedites this process, allowing you to instantly travel back to where the Dreamgate is, like teleporting, only super long-distance.**

“What’s ‘teleporting’? I’ve never heard that word before,” Zuko asked.

**Teleporting is the act of traveling between two points in a space instantly. There is no travel time between point A and point B, you are simply already there. Here, I’ll demonstrate.**

Ghost suddenly brought one leg up off the floor like they were about to march somewhere before they vanished from sight instantly. They appeared about five feet behind where they were previously standing. They had also appeared slightly in the air as well, only a few inches though, and they brought their leg down again when they landed, stabilizing their landing.

“That’s amazing! Can I learn to do that using Soul?” Zuko inquired.

**Absolutely, but teleporting is an advanced spell, so it’ll take a while to build up to it, but it’s totally worth the wait! It’s very fun and is a big advantage in a fight, as I’m sure you’re aware. You can only go fairly short distances though, and they have to be in line-of-sight normally or very close to your previous position, if you go backwards.**

**Anyway, back to the Dreamnail. I’ll show you how to set up a Dreamgate so we have a quick way to return, and then we’ll go on a little jaunt through the Dream Realm to fetch my stuff from the Forgotten Lighthouse in the Abyss.**

“Alright, that sounds fine. How do I make a Dreamgate?”

 **First, a Dreamgate must be placed on a solid, dense surface like stone or metal, and it has to be fairly flat or it will become unstable and potentially disappear. The deck of the ship should work fine, since the Dreamgate becomes attached to the material itself and not the actual location in space.**

“So, what you’re saying is that even if the ship sails away while we’re gone, if we used the Dreamgate to get back, we’d still appear on the ship?”

**Exactly! So, first you must activate the Dreamnail’s blade and stab it into the ground. Then, you must press your will through the Dreamnail into remembering this place, this location. All your surroundings must be pictured clearly in your mind. Anything significant can be used as an anchor. Then, you use a bit of Essence to create the gate matrix, and voila, brand-new Dreamgate! Unfortunately, only one Dreamgate can be designated per Dreamnail. If you place down another one using the same Dreamnail, the previous one will disappear.**

“Just one problem with that, Ghost...I don’t have any Essence,” Zuko pointed out.

**Oh! Right, how could I forget? Here I’ll give you some of mine, I’ve got an infinite supply, after all. It’ll be like a Soul transfer, but with Essence instead. Here, put your hands into my fluff, it’s easiest to channel Essence through there, the hairs are solidified Essence made physical.**

“Sure it is, Ghost. You just want an excuse for me to pet you!” Zuko playfully accused.

**Perhaps, perhaps!**

Ghost laughed at the accusation, but pointedly did not deny it.

Zuko stepped forward and Ghost crouched down for him to reach easier. He gently dug his fingers into the super-soft strands of fluff. “Now what?” He asked.

Ghost purred softly before the fluff lit up from within. The light seemed to come from somewhere inside the mass and it radiated heat. The strands started emitting a white mist from the ends of the hairs, and they moved softly in a non-existent breeze around Zuko’s fingers. It tickled.

**Now simply grab and pull. A mass of energy should come away in your hands. Just absorb it like you would with Soul and you’re all done!**

“It won’t hurt you, will it? I’m not ripping out your fluff or anything, right?”

**No. When I channel Essence through it, it is no longer truly physical, it becomes more like a mass of energy than anything else. It’ll grow back more or less instantly.**

Zuko just nodded and pulled his hands away slowly. As Ghost said, a white mass broke away from the rest and sat in his hands. The temporary bald patch in Ghost’s ruff filled in quickly before it stopped glowing and moving and Ghost stood back up.

Zuko beheld the strange sight of holding a clump of fur that seemed almost like a liquid at the same time. He Focused like he was about to absorb Soul, but focused on the mass in his hands. The mass shrunk and disappeared. 

A new, strange heat took up residence in his belly where his inner flame sat. Suddenly, he felt extremely nauseous. Something was wrong!

“Ghost, someth--!” He tried to shout, before he let out a loud burp. Scarlet flame followed in its wake, right into Ghost’s concerned face. The nausea was gone.

Ghost reeled back before suddenly gripping Zuko’s arms tightly.

**That was Nightmare Flame! Are you alright?! Quick, shoot a fireball off the side of the ship!**

Zuko was so startled by Ghost’s extreme reaction that he obeyed without thinking about it. The scarlet fireball was much bigger than he’d intended to make, and shortly after forming, it took on the shape of a tiny dragon before it dissipated a great distance over the ocean.

Both Zuko and Ghost stood gobsmacked at the sight. Zuko noticed his inner flame that usually flickered quietly when not in use was now a steady, raging bonfire! He gasped as he felt like he could run forever or lift a thousand pounds! He felt amazing!

Ghost had a thousand year stare going. They were lost in old memories.

**Just like Grimm and Little One…**

They turned to Zuko, who was cupping a large scarlet flame in his hand and grinning like it was going out of style, red light shining from his throat as he talked. He didn’t seem to notice that he was radiating so much heat that he appeared to be steaming in the cold night air.

“This feels amazing! My firebending’s never felt so powerful!”

Ghost saw that his eyes were also lit from within, a familiar, solid red light shining equally bright from both eyes, no pupils, iris, or sclera were discernible. 

Their old memories hit them harder than a speeding Garpede. They were trampled and suffocated by them, drowning utterly in the past. The present began to blur into the past, Zuko’s face and name twisted in their mind until they could no longer remember him clearly, only that he was precious to them.

Ghost, lost in memories from their past, dropped the Dreamnail in favor of something far more valuable. They scooped the small thing into an embrace before standing back up. They cooed and rocked the small thing like they used to do with the one who came before, the most beloved Little One. 

* * *

Zuko was so startled by the sudden transition from vertical to horizontal that he just kind of sat there, stunned, letting himself be held like a baby. He was so warm and felt so safe. He was strangely sleepy, too...maybe just laying here would be okay, just for a bit.

The door to below deck suddenly swung open, and Iroh was treated to one of the strangest and most terrifying sights he had seen in his long life. His beloved nephew was being cradled like a baby in the arms of a vastly ancient and powerful being that his nephew had angered scant hours before. Zuko was lit from within by a hellish red light, his eyes totally consumed by it. 

He looked like a demon from some of the more outlandish spirit tales. He looked dazed, and his body was steaming in the night air, like he was being burned up from the inside out. Iroh’s grip on his teapot slackened in his shock and it fell and shattered on the deck below.

“Zuko!” Iroh made to move closer to the pair, but was viciously hissed at by Ghost. Iroh recoiled from the aggressive noise. Ghost had never made such a noise that Iroh could recall. It sounded primal and angry. He tried a different approach, attempting to reason with Ghost and snap them out of whatever had overcome them, since they didn’t seem to be in their right mind. They seemed to curl tighter around Zuko, like they were afraid he’d run off if they didn’t hold him tight enough.

“Ghost, please, it’s me, Iroh! Please, put my nephew down, he needs help!” Iroh attempted to step closer again, but was hissed at again, even louder this time. Iroh began to panic, he didn’t know what was wrong with either of them. He couldn’t fight Ghost and ever hope to win, but he would try anyway, for his nephew’s sake.

* * *

_Scarlet flame. The sound of music. The smell of burning incense. Red fabric. A beating heart. Warmth. Love. Belonging._

* * *

_Ghost was spun and twirled in a familiar pattern. A step here, a step there. Twist, pivot, a dip. Ghost stared into solid red eyes, consumed with emotion. The music slowed and a strong hand led them off to a darkened side room of the main tent. Excitement stirred in their belly._

* * *

_Lavish pillows and rich fabrics cradled them as they rested. A heated body laid beside theirs and held them in strong arms. This was what love was, Ghost was sure. They were so happy they cried._

* * *

_They were in pain and exhausted, but it had been worth it. They curled around a small black and red egg and slept. Warm eyes watched them, filled with love but tinged with sadness, for there could only ever be one Nightmare King._

* * *

_Ghost dodged flaming, scarlet projectiles. They sidestepped around every claw swipe and drill-edged lunge. They struck out unerringly with a shining Pure Nail. The hit connected. They were crying again, but in sadness this time. They held the slowly fading form of their beloved in their arms, knowing it was necessary, but wishing for just a few more precious moments even still._

* * *

_They gazed upon the small, sleeping form of their child. Their wings had grown again, they noticed. The child’s eyes opened and Ghost was met with eyes so similar to the ones of their lover. The same, but so different. The same fire, but belonging to a different face, a different soul. They sobbed uncontrollably, cradling the last gift of their beloved Grimm to their chest. The child chirped curiously before nuzzling their face with his own. They only cried harder at the gesture of love._

* * *

Ghost beheld one so similar to their long lost child. They cradled him close and cooed the same lullabies, infusing the words with their Soul. 

_Love, Safety_ , they crooned. _Rest now, you’re safe with me. I’ll take care of you, keep you safe and so loved._

Suddenly, a threat! 

_Begone! Don’t come any closer! You’ll not hurt him while I still live!_ They shouted in the ancient language of their former homeland.

The threat kept trying to get closer, jabbering strange sounds at them that Ghost could only barely hear above the sounds of carnival music and the eternal beating of a scarlet heart.

The threat would not leave, no matter how Ghost hissed or snarled at it! They couldn’t fight the threat, not while holding their Precious One. Their only option was to retreat to a place the threat could not reach, but they were stuck on a small metal island, with no other land to be seen for miles. 

No matter then, they’d just make a new way out. They channeled their seldom-touched Dream powers and tore a hole into reality simply by willing it to be so. They stepped back into the crack in the sky and closing it before the threat could follow them through, though it tried. 

Their Precious One had fallen asleep even in all the commotion, how cute! Ghost then gazed around at their surroundings, a bit confused. They didn’t remember the Dream Realm having such large landmasses, nor had they ever seen trees in the Dream Realm, either. 

No matter. They spotted a strange dead tree in the distance, extremely large at the base, with a cave buried in its roots. That would make a suitable shelter for the time being. Ghost reached out and twisted the space, instantly appearing at its entrance. 

Then, they sensed that the cave was occupied. There was a large presence deep inside it, and that wouldn’t do! They drug the dark presence out of the cave using naught but their control over the Dream Realm. A massive insectoid shape was pulled forcefully from the cave, resembling something that would lurk in the darkest depths of Deepnest, or maybe a really, _really_ ugly Garpede. It was spitting mad, whatever it was, its many legs flailing everywhere as it attempted to orient itself. 

They quickly stored Precious One inside the pocket-space located in their fluff. There, now they could kill whatever this thing was and have the cave for themselves without endangering Precious One. In hindsight, they could’ve done that back on the metal island, but then they would still be stuck in that tiny place with the threat and no shelter, so escaping was still better.

The ugly Garpede-thing turned around and it had a strange, mobile face like Precious One’s coming out of where it looked like there should’ve been an eye. It’s strange eye socket blinked and the faces changed. It kept doing that, maybe it was trying to scare them? 

It was yelling at them in the strange jabbering language like the threat from before had. Ghost didn’t understand or care about what it had to say and launched a lance made of Soul and Essence at it. The thing tried to dodge but it was simply too large to move all its bulk out of the way in time. The energy lance struck the ugly thing in its side before detonating, blowing a hole in its body many feet wide. 

The wound gushed a strange blackish fluid that definitely wasn’t Void. To their senses it felt like someone had...corrupted Dream Essence, somehow? Either way, the ugly thing howled in pain and turned to give them a weirdly intense look. It kept looking straight into their eyes, and it was creepy and annoying, so Ghost let some of their True Form show through their eyes in response. The ugly thing became fearful, as it should be when facing the Lord of The Abyss, God of Gods. 

It jabbered some more at them before attempting to flee in the other direction. Ghost wasn’t letting it go that easy! What if it came back seeking revenge? They used their power as Lord and Master of the Dream Realm to find the tainted Dream Essence that made up the Garpede-thing, and they destroyed it utterly. The corruption was truly disgusting and offensive to their senses and they wanted it gone. 

They witnessed the Garpede-thing twist and writhe and scream before it dissolved into nothingness, completely obliterated and erased from existence. They nodded in satisfaction before retrieving Precious One, still fast asleep, from the pocket-space in their fluff before entering the newly vacated lair.

* * *

The lingering spirit of Avatar Roku could hardly believe his eyes! A spirit that’d he’d never seen before suddenly appeared in the Spirit World, carrying the limp form of his great-grandson in two of its four arms!

Roku followed curiously, concerned for the well-being of his descendant, though the spirit seemed to be fussing over him greatly, which was confusing. Very few spirits were wholly benevolent to humans, and this one was acting like a mother-sow-hen! Maybe it was peaceful and he could convince it to release his great-grandson back into the Mortal Realm?

Then, the very fabric of the Spirit World seemed to buck and distort around this new spirit and it reappeared many dozens of feet away from its previous location! Roku hurried to catch up with it, and when he did, he witnessed something more terrifying than he had ever seen before. 

The spirit reached out with one of its lower arms and clenched its fist. The Spirit World heeded the command, and suddenly, Koh The Face-Stealer was pulled forcefully from his own den! The blank-faced spirit then seemed to absorb his great-grandson into the fur on its neck, even though he logically could not have even remotely fit under the furry ruff. 

Koh was rightly confused and outraged at his sudden summons, and attempted to steal the face of the spirit. It seemed to be completely immune. Turns out Koh’s hard counter was a creature with a completely immobile face! Roku almost laughed at the irony, but his mirth was cut short when the spirit completely ignored Koh’s attempted face-theft and launched some kind of projectile at the Face-Stealer. 

Roku reeled back. There was enough spiritual energy in that one lance to allow a dozen spirits to exist on the physical plane almost indefinitely, and the creature just casually threw around that kind of energy and didn’t even have the decency to look even remotely tired!

The spirit-energy lance struck Koh in the side, despite his attempt at dodging it. It blew an enormous hole in Koh’s side and he cried out in pain, the wound absolutely gushing dark spirit-blood. Koh attempted one last time to steal the creature’s face, probably in the hopes of ending the fight quickly.

Again, the creature had no expression on its mask-like face. It returned Koh’s look with one of its own, and Roku’s mouth suddenly went very dry with fear at the sight of the endless Oblivion within the creature's gaze. Nothing could possibly exist within such a darkness, an oblivion so complete, and yet the creature did anyway. Koh turned away in fear, faced with the sight of nonexistence, unable to comprehend the endless eternity held within.

Koh wisely attempted to flee the abomination before him, but again, the Spirit World itself seemed to rearrange itself to suit the thing’s needs. This time, instead of moving locations, Koh’s essence, his very being, his presence just...disappeared, like it never existed in the first place.

Koh writhed and screamed like Roku had never heard before, before just...fading away into nothingness. No trace of Koh’s power remained in the Spirit World. Even the imprints of power left behind when a spirit occupied a place for a long time were gone. This was no longer Koh’s lair, because Koh no longer existed. Not moved on to the Great Beyond that awaited, either, but simply gone!

The impossible abomination that had just removed Koh from existence just nodded to itself before retrieving the limp form of his great-grandson out of...somewhere, before entering the newly vacated cave.

Roku hastily fled the area. He had to warn everyone else that would listen to stay away from Koh’s former residence even more than they already did. The new occupant was more powerful than even the most ancient of spirits. 

He had to warn Aang as well, the solstice was fast approaching, and Roku had to warn him of the approaching comet, as well as this strange new threat, it seemed. He hoped his great-grandson would be alright, but there was absolutely nothing Roku could do to help him now.

* * *

Back on the _Wani_ , everyone was losing their collective minds. Zuko had done something to piss Ghost off, who then seemed to have gone a bit crazy after Zuko attempted to apologize. 

According to a near-hysterical Iroh, Ghost had done _something_ to his nephew that made it look like he was burning from the inside-out like a living volcano, before abducting him and vanishing through a crack in the sky! Iroh clutched the Dreamnail in an iron grip, staring at it like it would bring back his nephew if he did it for long enough.

The crew was also freaking out, but to a slightly lesser degree. The small band of Soul-users were now regarded with extreme suspicion, the others staring at them like they might all suddenly snap and go crazy as well.

The worst part was that none of the Soul-users knew if they would, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so how about that, huh? we finally get some actual spirit world/dream realm action! This is why you dont leave a realm influenced by belief and imagination alone for a million years with no supervision or maintenance, ghost! Shit grows so much mold it gains sentience eventually!


	15. The Aftermath of an Accidental Kidnapping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting for the past couple of days! Pokemon's Crown Tundra DLC recently came out and it's consumed my life, lol. Also my motivation to write waxes and wanes at the whims of my muse, and also how much my college professors hate me at the moment. I swear, some of them think i don't have a life outside their classes, god. >:( Anyway, enjoy the aftermath from last chapter! Zuko and Ghost bumble around in another plane of existence and everyone on the Wani is losing their collective shit.

Zuko awoke with a start. He felt very strange, simultaneously like he could run forever but also like getting up would be the most difficult thing ever. His limbs felt like lead but tingly with repressed energy. The longer he lay on the floor, the more his head seemed to clear and the leaden feeling slowly vanished. 

_ Wait...floor? Why am I on the floor? Where am I? _

He sat up with only some difficulty and took in his surroundings. He appeared to be underground, but the cavern he was in was lit by some strange glass balls containing glowing insects of some sort. They weren’t glow-flies, they shone much too bright for that, and they were glowing a silvery blueish-white, not the usual golden yellow.

He was laying in some kind of...nest? It was a shallow depression in the floor filled with all manner of soft objects. Some fabric and grasses, and what looked like white tufts of fur. He ran the strands through his fingers and watched as the strands seemed to glow faintly at his touch before fading. 

_ This is Ghost’s fur! Did they make this? Why? _

All of the sudden, their fuzzy memories of last night hit them like a sack of bricks. The apology on the  _ Wani _ , the short magic lesson and transference of Essence, his weird firebending, and Ghost...cuddling them?

His cheeks turned red at the fuzzy memory. 

_ Why would they do that? And why can’t I remember anything after that? Did I fall asleep? How long have I been here? _

He searched out the position of the sun with his firebending, but became alarmed when he couldn’t find it. His inner fire flared and the somewhat familiar sense of immense strength followed in its wake.

_ Why can’t I feel the sun?! And what’s wrong with my bending?! _

His flame burned a bright scarlet in his cupped hands. Normally, deep red fire like this would indicate a weaker flame. The colors of firebending did not always equate to a normal fire’s color at that temperature normally. A deep red indicated the weakest and coolest flames, with bright red, orange, yellow, white, followed by a bright blue indicating the strength hierarchy of firebending.

Zuko could feel that these flames were much, much hotter than a flame this color would usually indicate with firebending. Zuko looked inwards and focused on his inner flame. He could sense where the Essence had fused and blended with it. 

He frantically tried to separate the two energies, but it was no use. In his rising panic, his inner flame flared even hotter, and when Zuko opened his eyes, he could see heat waves radiating off of him, distorting the air. He attempted to smother his inner flame a bit, hoping to fix the problem, but instead of settling back down, it seemed to make the energy flow in strange ways. 

Like trying to stuff more material into a too-small box, something gave and his inner fire moved from his stomach to his skin in the most nausea-inducing lurch he’d ever felt. He slammed his eyes shut and attempted to regulate his breathing to avoid throwing up. His rebellious stomach soon calmed, and when Zuko could finally open his eyes without hurling, he almost screamed. His entire body was engulfed in scarlet fire!

Before his panic could fully set in, he realized that it wasn’t hurting him at all. It wasn’t even burning his clothes or the highly flammable nest he was sitting in. It was just...warm. It was extremely disconcerting for his ‘inner’ fire to suddenly be on his outsides. His stomach felt oddly bereft, the space where his flame usually sat was empty for the first time in his entire life.

He began to worry that he had somehow removed or damaged his firebending, but just when he wished that the fire would go back to where it was before, it was already leaping to his command. The energy pulled away from his skin and flowed seamlessly back into his stomach, where it was supposed to be.

Just when he was starting to get his emotions under control, Zuko heard noises coming from the entrance tunnel. He braced himself for a fight, because weird firebending or no, he would never give up without a fight. His anxiety lessened when Ghost stepped into the cave.

“Ghost, thank Agni, do you know where we are or how we even got here? Where is everyone else?”

Ghost just tilted their horned head to the side, like a curious puppy-kitten, and didn’t answer. They walked forward and situated themselves in the nest next to Zuko before sticking their hand into their fluff and removing a live, thrashing rabbit-racoon. 

Zuko flinched back before questioning Ghost on its origins, “Ghost, what the hell?! Where did you get that?! And where were you even keeping it?”

Ghost simply held out the thrashing animal for Zuko to take. Zuko refused and was beginning to suspect that something was wrong with Ghost. Ghost simply looked at them before doing...something to the poor creature. Their mouth opened and a myriad of dark, squirming tendrils emerged from it. The tendrils wrapped around the panicking rabbit-racoon. Light flowed from the unfortunate creature into Ghost’s tendrils, but it didn’t look like Soul, there were other pastel colors blended into the light. The animal’s thrashing slowed in its increasing exhaustion.

The animal’s movement slowed to a halt as Zuko watched, equally enthralled and horrified. As the tendrils continued draining light from the rabbit-racoon, it became increasingly transparent before dissipating entirely into nothingness. The tendrils retracted back into Ghost’s mouth and they chirped and hissed and chittered at him in a manner reminiscent of the voice from the coliseum place in Ghost’s memories.

_ Okay, yeah, something is definitely very wrong with Ghost. _ Zuko thought to himself.  _ What the actual, literal, genuine hell was that?! And why did it just disappear? I thought Soul draining wasn’t fatal! _

Ghost continued chittering at him, not that Zuko could understand any of it. He tried to breathe and center himself, since yelling would not help his current situation, and he didn’t want to accidentally set off Ghost. There was no telling what was wrong with them, and he wasn’t sure if they would react with hostility if he raised his voice too much.

He took some deep, meditative breaths, successfully calming his raging inner flame this time. Unknowingly, he ceased radiating insane amounts of heat and his glowing red eyes and throat returned to normal. The sense of strength remained, though it was subdued.

Ghost seemed to stare at them for a few seconds after that, trying to comprehend where their Precious One’s fire had gone, before rational thought was restored with all the grace of a drunken Stag in a charm shop. They reeled back at the influx of fuzzy, distorted memories, clutching their aching head.

* * *

Zuko started as Ghost seemed to suddenly come back to themselves, shaking and grabbing their head and making more hissing sounds, but this time they seemed to be noises born of pain.

“Ghost, are you back? Why were you acting all weird?” 

“ _ Ugh, what was that? I feel like I went back to back against the Failed Champion and the Traitor Lord! _ ” Ghost groaned out unknowingly in High Paleian, the ancient language of their long dead homeland.

“Ghost, you’re still making weird bug noises, I can’t understand you!”

That brought them up short. They were making audible noise? How had they not noticed before?

**Sorry Friend, can you understand me now? I don’t know what came over me, do you know where we are?**

“I was hoping you knew! I woke up here, then you came in, and absorbed a rabbit-racoon with your weird mouth tentacles!” He shouted, and with the return of his rising emotions came the resurgence of his inner flame and the red light.

Ghost startled when Zuko began glowing red again, but they clamped down on the surge of memories that threatened to overwhelm them again. They forced back the memories of old grief and feelings of loss and powered stubbornly through. Suddenly, a lot of facts seemed to slot neatly in place in their head and they let out an embarrassed groan.

**Friend, I think I just figured out what happened.**

“Well, don’t keep it to yourself!”

**This is so embarrassing...when I gave you some of my Dream Essence, it reacted with your body and your firebending in an impossible manner. Your new appearance caught me off guard and drug up lots of old feelings and memories I thought I had gotten over ages ago.**

“What new appearance?” Zuko questioned.

**You are glowing red, Friend. Did you not know? Your eyes and throat are emitting a red light and you are giving off a truly impressive amount of warmth. It brought up memories of my lost child. I couldn’t hold back the flood of memories and I drowned in them. I couldn’t distinguish the present and the past, and I mistook you for them, or something so similar it didn’t matter to my fevered brain. I may have done something rash in my confusion...**

“I’m glowing?” Zuko questioned. “Wait, Ghost, what do you mean ‘something rash’?  _ What did you do? _ ”

Ghost looked sheepish and refused to look at him.

**I could not recognize your uncle in my delirium. I thought him a threat to your well-being, and I sought to get us away from the perceived danger. I think I opened a portal to the Dream Realm instinctively. I didn’t even know that was possible, I thought I had to use the Dreamnail to do that.**

“Wait, we’re in the Dream Realm?!”

**It appears so, yes. Although, it is much different than I remember it. It used to be a barren and desolate place, there wasn’t even a solid floor in most places! Now though, there are trees and earth and all kinds of things! It’s quite remarkable. I think I came across this cave and, uh, disposed of its previous occupant so that we would have shelter.**

“...Disposed? You mean you killed something to get this cave? It was just another animal, though, right? Right?!” Zuko asked worriedly.

**Erm...I think so? It certainly looked like an animal, though I think it tried to talk to me? I’m not too sure on that last one, though. I’ve never seen anything else quite like it before. It was big, and it looked like a really ugly Garpede with long legs and a person’s face on the front. It kept staring at me and changing its face, I think it was trying to scare me? I hurt it with a spell and it bled, but it felt...off; wrong in some way I can’t describe, I’m not sure. It was disgusting, whatever it was, so in my more primal state of mind, I used my powers to destroy it at its source. I was worried that if I let it go, it would come back seeking revenge, so...I made sure it couldn’t do that?**

Zuko took in that description, puzzled over it, and then came to a conclusion that turned his blood to ice. “Ghost, if my hunch is right, then what you killed was Koh the Face-Stealer! That means we’re in the Spirit World, not the Dream Realm!”

**Koh the what-now?**

“Koh the Face-Stealer! The scourge of the Four Nations! He torments people by tricking them and stealing their faces, dooming them to walk the world without a face forever! Parents use the story of him to make sure kids don’t go wandering in the woods at night! He’s a monster! Or...he was, at least,” Zuko finished rather lamely.

**Well, he mustn’t’ve been a very good one, since he was pathetically easy to defeat.**

“I think it has more to do with the fact that you’re way more powerful than you think you are, not that Koh, one of the most ancient spirits out there, was weak,” Zuko deadpanned. “Anyway, what the hell was up with the rabbit-racoon? You pulled it out of your fluff somehow, and then you absorbed it! I thought you said Soul draining wasn’t fatal!”

**The non-lethality of Soul draining techniques is only applicable to things that are alive and have physical bodies. Since we are in the Dream Realm, everything here is made out of Dream Essence, and what I drained was that and not Soul. None of the creatures here possess Soul, since Soul is an energy tied to the presence of a living body.**

**As for my fluff, apparently that’s how my pocket-space decided to manifest in my new body. I thought I had lost access to it when I took on a less malleable form. Turns out it just decided to change the access method slightly. Instead of accessing my pocket space by transporting items through my liquid Void form, I access it by putting items into my fluff. And we are most definitely in the Dream Realm, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do this!**

Ghost swirled their fingers through the air and ribbons of Essence danced around and through them. A medium sized mirror popped into existence shortly after. Ghost caught it and handed it over to Zuko. 

**Using Essence while in the Dream Realm, you can bring anything you can imagine into existence with a bit of skill. More complicated objects are still beyond me, though.**

Zuko marveled briefly over the small impossibility he’d just witnessed. 

_ If the rules of the universe were a person, they’d be weeping right now, _ He thought.

Zuko decided to shelve the Dream Realm vs. Spirit World argument for the time being and took the offered mirror and beheld his reflection in it. He was horrified to find that Ghost was right. His eyes were a solid red, and when he gasped in surprise, he saw that his throat was also emitting a red glow, like he’d swallowed a ball of fire and it was shining out of his mouth. It all looked a bit demonic, to be honest, and his ugly scar didn’t help matters any. 

His solid red eyes looked decidedly creepy, and the throat glow made it look like he was about to breathe fire like a dragon. He giggled slightly hysterically in his mind at the thought of himself as a dragon. The Fire Nation Royal Family was supposedly descended from Agni Himself, who was said to have been the first dragon.

“Why do I look like this? Does it have to do with why my firebending is red now?”

**Most likely. When Grimm explained how his powers worked to me once, he said that it was a mix of fire-natured Soul magic and Dream Essence. Firebending and Soul magic must be close enough to trigger the transition. Aside from Grimm and the Old Light, only the moth tribe, who were originally spawned from the Old Light, had access to Dream Essence and its related magics.**

“Is there any way to turn my firebending back to normal? I can’t exactly go out in public looking like this! People would think I’m an evil spirit, or possessed by one, at least,” Zuko said.

**Do spirit possessions happen frequently?**

“No! Those types of things only happen in spirit tales, not actually in real-life, but that won’t stop people from being superstitious idiots! Please tell me you have a way to fix this!”

**Unfortunately Friend, for all my power, I do not. Grimm described the induction ritual of a new Troupe member as a permanent transition. Once a body has adapted to using Nightmare Flame, their body begins producing Essence on its own, much like how it does with Soul.**

“Then why’d you give me Essence in the first place?!” Zuko shouted angrily.

**I didn’t know it could merge with your firebending like that! Bending is completely separate from Soul or magic of any kind! It shouldn’t even be possible! I don’t quite understand how this happened, but I’d never knowingly do something like this without your permission! I’m really sorry that this whole mess happened in the first place, but I can’t just snap my fingers and magically make everything better, no matter how much I wish I could!**

“...You’re right...sorry for yelling at you, you didn’t do anything on purpose,” Zuko mumbled dejectedly, still staring at his reflection. He was trying to figure out how he was going to hide his new appearance. He began to lose hope that he was ever going to go home.

Suddenly, the light slowly leached out of his eyes and his inner fire sputtered and shrank in the wake of his subdued emotions. 

“Ghost, look! I’m not glowing anymore!” He said excitedly. As his emotions surged back through him again, the light was back in full force. “What, no! It was gone for a second, but then it came back again!”

Ghost looked contemplative.

**Perhaps the light is tied to your emotions? Grimm always said that Nightmare Flame was powered up by strong emotions like happiness or anger, even those felt by others nearby, especially fear or passion. Although I doubt your firebending will ever completely return to normal, perhaps you can suppress your Nightmare Flames so your appearance goes back to normal? Firebending has a lot to do with emotions and breathing, right? Maybe try to be as calm and emotionless as possible?**

“I doubt I’ll ever be able to be emotionless, Ghost. People, and firebenders especially, just don’t work that way. I can give meditative breathing a shot, though,” Zuko said. He readjusted his legs in the nest and attempted to meditate. Something didn’t feel quite right, though. “Ghost, could you provide a candle? I don’t know about the other elements, but firebending requires fire of some kind to meditate.”

A tall, white candle was swiftly conjured and Zuko got to work. 

After a bit of a stuttering start where Zuko struggled to contain his new, more powerful Nightmare Firebending into just lighting the candle and not blowing a hole into the side of the cave, he was soon falling into the familiar rhythm of inhaling and exhaling. 

Ghost sat quietly off to the side, watching carefully and trying to not drown in guilt. They felt awful over the whole thing. They just wanted to go on a quick trip to get their stuff back from the Abyss, not accidentally ruin their friend’s life! They truly didn’t mean for any of this to happen.

* * *

After maybe half an hour, Zuko opened his eyes and held up the mirror to his face. He avoided looking at his scar like always, and tried to squash the excitement he felt over his success. The light only reappeared faintly before disappearing again. It was getting a bit easier to push down his wild inner flame, now that he knew what he was looking for.

“Ghost, I think I’ve got it!” He shouted over towards his seated friend. Ghost looked up, and saw the face of their friend, smiling in triumph. The light flared weakly here and there, but it always disappeared quickly. 

Zuko held out the mirror for Ghost to take, and they stored it back into their pocket-space, in a process that was a bit strange to watch. It was like the fluff just absorbed whatever object was stuffed into it deep enough. 

Zuko idly wondered if that had ever been in danger of happening to his face, given Ghost’s proclivity to shoving his face into it at any and all opportunities.

**That’s great, Friend, I knew you could do it! Now, we should get back to the ship, I’m sure we’ve worried everyone plenty with our disappearing act.**

“Uncle! Oh man, he must be going crazy with worry…” Zuko said quietly. He felt slightly bad about always worrying his uncle, the only one besides Ghost who genuinely seemed to like him. It’s not like he meant for crazy stuff to happen to constantly happen to him, the crazy stuff just always seemed to find him anyway!

**Let’s go outside and I’ll just use...the...Dreamgate...**

What followed was an audible string of curses from Ghost that Zuko couldn’t understand, due to them being in Ghost’s weird bug language, but they certainly sounded harsh.

**Where’s the Dreamnail?! Friend, please, please tell me you have it…!**

Now it was Zuko’s turn to swear, as he realized their way back was left back on the  _ Wani _ .

“Can’t you just make another one, or rip open a portal, like you did last time?” Zuko asked, reluctantly hopeful.

**The Dreamnail is a very complex magical artifact, and far beyond my current level of skill to make. I could make a portal, but I have no way of choosing where it would open! I’m not familiar enough with the Dream Realm and my powers to figure out how to align the Real World and the Dream Realm together to get consistent results! That was the whole point of using the Dreamgate to mark the ship, it would’ve been a beacon to lead us home!**

“Try a portal anyway! Maybe we’ll get lucky for once in our lives?” Zuko said hopefully, though he, too, doubted it would work out in their favor.

**Alright, I’ll try, but stand back, I don’t really know what I’m doing!**

Zuko took a few large steps away from Ghost, who stood hunched over. Their claws extended from their usually soft fingertips and the claws began to glow with power, and Ghost stabbed them into seemingly thin air above their head before violently ripping downwards with all four arms. 

Their claws seemed to catch on the edge of invisible fabric before a great ripping noise washed over the area. A ragged tear in the fabric of the Dream Realm opened, and Ghost grabbed the edges before tearing the hole wider. 

They stuck their head through, and then recoiled at the sight of a small town square filled with villagers, who all stared back at Ghost’s face looking out at them from a tear in the fabric of reality. There was dead silence for a scant few seconds before all manner of screaming and running ensued.

**Sorry! Wrong address!**

They swiftly pulled their head back through and tried to force the hole to close by pulling the edges back together. They eventually succeeded, before they slumped down looking dejected.

* * *

Unknowingly, the portal Ghost had created and then closed in that town would make it much easier for spirits to manifest in that location, come the Winter Solstice. 

* * *

  
  


“What was that?! I heard screaming from the other side!” Zuko yelled, running over to Ghost’s side to make sure they were okay.

**I’m fine, Friend. The exit portal opened up in the center of a small town. They saw the portal and me, and proceeded to panic. I don’t think I’ll be able to open a portal directly to the ship, not without trying a million times, and doing it just once was tiring enough. I think our best bet would be to try and aim for an uninhabited area and attempt to make our way back to the ship on foot.**

“Fantastic,” Zuko said frustratedly. “Is there no familiar place you could open a portal to? That way we’d at least know where we are when we exited it.”

**I’ll try and see if I can do that, but I’m really not all that familiar with the locations of the world, only your ship, which was mobile and thus not actually a location, specifically, and the Abyss.**

“Maybe shoot for the Abyss, then? We could go get your stuff then, at least. That’s the whole reason we’re in this mess in the first place. It’d be kind of stupid if we went through all this trouble to get it back, and we didn’t even get what we came here for.”

**True enough. I’ll try opening a portal to the entrance of the Abyss.**

Ghost pictured the familiar location as best they could, and ripped open another portal. They looked through quickly, feeling relief at the familiar sight of the open door and defaced stone tablet. They motioned for Zuko to follow them through.

* * *

Back on the  _ Wani _ , things had gone from bad to worse. The Soul-users, along with Iroh, had banded together in the face of the tension from the rest of the crew. 

Things came to a head when they eventually arrived in a town close to where the Avatar’s group was supposed to be in a week. The entire rest of the crew decided to bail at the small port, stating that the risk of weird spirit shit happening was too high for them to risk staying. 

Iroh had to let them all go, and then had to sell the ship, since seven people, several of which didn't know how to sail a ship, would not have enough manpower to operate the  _ Wani _ by themselves.

Thankfully, the town had a minor White Lotus presence, and Iroh was able to negotiate a very profitable sale, leaving him and the others with a nice sum to keep them going for a bit. Iroh still never let the Dreamnail out of his sight, and was often seen fiddling with it or swiping it through the air, desperate hope written all over his face. 

Jee and the others worked together to help keep his spirits up, but they could all tell it was only a matter of time before he fell into a depression over his nephew’s abduction. Aza kept telling everyone that Zuko was still alive, surely, since Ghost held his safety as paramount. Ghost was a gentle soul when not provoked, so their sudden change of heart was deemed highly irregular. 

They all decided to travel together for the time being, helping each other practice with their limited number of spells, Iroh not included, of course. The twins kept accidentally bumbling over new spells and techniques in their crazy experimentations. Some were very useful, like being able to speed up one’s movement tremendously, and others, like being able to emit an absolutely foul stench, were decidedly less so.

When they heard rumors of a strange happening in Senlin Village, located in a forest known for its frequent spirit sightings, they all decided to investigate, in the hopes that Ghost or Zuko had been through the area.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how bout that eh? And before you ask, no-one else will be getting special nightmare powers, zuko's special like that! :3 By that i mean even if ghost repeated the same exact steps, nothing special would happen to the other firebender. (it's a surprise foreshadowing that will help us later, lol) I look forward to your comments!


	16. Reunions and Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ!!!!! So, I've hit a bit of a wall when it comes to this story plot-wise. At this point in time, there's a few different directions Zuko's relationship with Ghost can go. Please read the following chapter and then PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM, your participation is vital to the continuation of the story. I can't write more chapters if I can't make a decision regarding this, and I'm the most indecisive bitch you'll ever meet. With that out of the way, please enjoy, its gonna be a doozy! ;D

Ghost held Zuko securely in all four arms as they flew deeper into the Abyss. The pair alighted on the destroyed top of the Forgotten Lighthouse in short order. Zuko squirmed out of Ghost’s hold when they playfully tried to keep holding him.

“Alright, now what exactly are we looking for?” Zuko inquired, looking around the rubble-strewn tower in curiosity.

**I have quite a collection of objects and treasures I gathered in my adventures through Hallownest. They should all be here, it’s where I left everything after I Ascended. I removed them from my pocket-space at some point, though I can’t quite recall why. I think it was because the sight and feel of them made me nostalgic to the point of pain. My memories were all I had to entertain me down here after the world went to pot, and my things just made me long for times long gone.**

“That’s...kinda depressing, Ghost. I’m sorry you had to go through that, but are sure getting them back is a good idea if they hurt you like that?” Zuko gently asked.

**No, it's fine! Really! Now that I have you, and the world is full of life again, there’s a whole new world of adventures waiting for me, and this time, I have wonderful friends to share them with! Some of the items are mostly sentimental, but most of them are actually very useful when travelling, and I want you to have some of them, since I no longer have a use for them, or because a new ability rendered them obsolete, like the Monarch Wings.**

“What’re those?” 

**A magical device worn on the back that grants the user ethereal wings of light. I have no use for them now that I have wings of my own, but I figured you might want to feel what it’s like to fly by yourself.**

“I’d be able to fly?!” Zuko exclaimed, excited by the possibility. Again, the thought of himself as a dragon resurfaced, and he couldn’t hold back a small chuckle. As he was rooting around the rubble, he came across a large cloth bag.

“I think I found something!” Zuko called out to Ghost, who was shifting some absolutely massive boulders on the other side of the tower using nothing but their own raw strength.

They looked up and hurried over, before they let out a happy chirp of delight.

**You found it!**

They pulled the bag free of the rubble and motioned for Zuko to sit down across from them while they rooted around in the bag.

**Ah-ha! Here it is!**

They exclaimed in victory as they pulled out a small oval-shaped device. It was flat on one side and curved on the other.

**These are the Monarch Wings! I improved them ages ago, so now they can provide continuous flight at the cost of a small amount of Soul over time, instead of just a couple flaps when I first got them. Now, take off your shirt and turn around.**

“What?!” Zuko yelped.

**Sorry, could have phrased that better! The housing of the wings sticks to your skin so it can draw on your Soul, it doesn't work over clothes. The magic will bond to your whole body though, so it won’t tug on your skin or anything like that when you're flying. So, shirt off if you wanna fly. Afterwards, I can cut a small hole in your shirt so they can function with your clothes. I never had that problem, since most bugs didn’t wear very many clothes at all, usually just a cloak to cover the shoulders so they’d be decent.**

“What does that mean? What’s so special about shoulders? A lot of Fire Nation clothes don’t have sleeves at all, and you’ve never said anything about that when the crew wore casual clothes like that on the  _ Wani _ .”

**Masks and covered shoulders signified a civilized bug throughout most of central Hallownest. Of course, different tribes and species had different customs, but by and large that was just how things were. Uncovered shoulders were considered unseemly or inappropriate in most circumstances, like if you decided to go around with no pants, which isn’t okay, unless you’re going swimming, then it’s fine.**

**Humans have a different view of clothing and what parts are supposed to be covered at all times, so think of it like that. I was never bothered because humans look so different and the culture was different, and no one was considered indecent by anyone else, so they didn’t seem that way to me.**

**I suppose I keep with the practice because it is simply what I’m used to. My fluff covers my shoulders like those of the moth tribe, and that was considered acceptable covering. If all my fluff was to suddenly disappear, it would be like being naked, even if nothing changed in your eyes. It would be extremely discomfiting to me, so I keep with the customs of my culture.**

“That makes sense, I guess,” Zuko said. He grabbed the hem of his tunic-like top and pulled it over his head, making sure to mind his phoenix-tail.

Ghost motioned for him to turn around and he reluctantly did so. He didn’t like anyone at his back, but he trusted Ghost and the thought of being able to fly was an exciting one.

**This shouldn’t hurt, but it will feel tingly and it might feel a bit invasive when the Wings connect to your Soul reserves, but don’t fight it or the whole process will take longer. If you decide you don’t want them, the process can be easily reversed and they’ll come right off.**

“Alright,” Zuko said a bit nervously.

**Alright, here goes.**

The device was pressed to his bare skin, in between his shoulder blades and slightly down, opposite of where the center of chest was on his front. It was smooth and slightly cold, but the longer it stayed in contact with his back, the more the device warmed.

A warm, tingly feeling flowed out from the device. The feeling wound its way around his ribs and spine and shoulders. It reached deeper into his chest and he inhaled slightly at the sensation of something prodding the energy in his chest. The warmth flowed into his chest, and a bit of his Soul flowed back out with it.

He felt the new connection settle into place and Zuko could suddenly feel the soft pads of Ghost’s fingertips pressing on his back in a new place that hadn’t existed five minutes ago. Zuko craned his neck back and attempted in vain to see the back of his own shoulders. 

Ghost retrieved the mirror from their fluff and positioned it so that Zuko could see his own back. The device sat neatly on his back, the black edges of the device transitioned seamlessly to skin and flexed and twisted just fine when he moved. Ghost gently laid one large fingertip on the center of the black lump and Zuko could feel it as though Ghost was just touching his back.

“That’s so weird…” Zuko breathed in wonder.

**Try channeling Soul to it. The Wings should appear and you should be able to control them like you would an arm or a leg. They’ll be completely intangible to everything except air, though.**

Zuko closed his eyes and reached inside of himself, towards that warm ball in his chest, and sent some Soul flowing down the connection. The connection seemed to come alive briefly, and it began drawing Soul into itself automatically. The draw was incredibly small, he noticed. He could probably keep that up for hours, as long as he didn’t use Soul for anything else. 

The device warmed briefly before he could feel six new limbs he hadn’t had before. He opened his eyes, and without even having to turn around, he could see the edges of his new wings. They looked like a lattice of glowing lines, much like how the veins in an insect’s wings looked. He tried to move them, and they twitched slightly. Zuko could feel the air move across their ethereal surface.

**Try focusing on the base of the wings, in a normal bug that has real wings and muscles to move them, that's where most of the feeling is. They don’t fold up like mine do, instead they’ll vanish if you stop channeling Soul. Try sort of vibrating them. These are insect wings after all, not bird wings, so you’ll need to flap them much quicker if you want to get off the ground for any length of time.**

Zuko tried moving them again, focusing on where they connected to his body. The device really did feel like a part of his body, like there were muscles and stuff controlling his wings. He tried flexing every muscle in his back that he could think of, and eventually stumbled across the correct ones.

The wings blurred through the air, creating a very loud, low buzzing noise, just like Ghost’s did. He felt his feet slowly leave the ground, and though he was extremely excited he kept his focus on moving the wings smoothly.

**Look at that, you’re a natural! Void knows I wasn’t nearly as graceful when I first used them, though they could only flap for a very short time when I had them.**

Zuko looked over at his friend, a huge grin on his face. How many times had he watched the messenger hawks back at the palace and wished he could just fly off with them, away from the stress and seemingly unreachable expectations?

Using the wings did feel entirely natural, he noticed. That was slightly odd, but he was just glad that he seemed to be a natural at something for once in his life.

_ Is this what Azula feels like all the time? Just knowing that she’s the best at something right off the bat? No wonder she gloated so much, this feels great! _

Zuko practiced hovering in place for a bit, before moving slowly forward and backwards, before turning himself to the left and right.

**Alright, fly-boy, time to come back down to the ground, I’ve fixed your shirt, and I’ve got more presents!**

Zuko still grinning like a madman, alighted gently on the floor, before cutting the Soul flow. All he had to do was tug on the connection and it let go of his Soul, settling back into dormancy. His wings dimmed before drawing back into the device rapidly.

He took back his shirt that Ghost had modified for his wings. The hole was about the size of his palm, and the small lump the Monarch Wings made on his back fit through it neatly.

“So, what other magic tricks do you have in that bag of yours?” Zuko asked excitedly. He so rarely received presents, and never something so sentimental to another person, so this felt extra special.

**Well, the four main ones are the Crystal Heart, Isma’s Tear, the Shade Cloak, and the Mantis Claw. First up is the Crystal Heart. By channeling its energy, you can launch yourself through the air at insane speeds indefinitely! While you can only go in a straight line, it’s much faster than flying with your new wings, and it doesn’t cost any Soul to use. It’s a bit too dangerous to use on top of the tower, though, so I’ll show you how to use it later, once we find a better place to practice.**

Ghost reached into the bag and withdrew a pink, pulsing device. It looked nothing like a heart, but rather a round metal sphere with jagged pink crystals poking out of it in places. The crystals pulsed with energy, and it reminded Zuko of the green crystals used in the Earth Kingdom for lighting purposes. He idly wondered if they were related in any fashion.

Ghost set the device on the ground before withdrawing a small, ragged cloak that looked and flowed more like a liquid than anything else. If Zuko wore it, it would be more like a longish shawl or maybe a short cape.

**This is the Shade Cloak. You know that Shadow Dash technique I used at Kyoshi? It was based off of this cloak. It allows the wearer to become intangible and dash forwards in small bursts. The intangibility feature has a bit of a recharge period, it's only a couple of seconds though. I know it’s a bit small on you, but it should still work just fine. But again, not the best place to test it out.**

They set the cloak down before reaching into the bag again, this time pulling out a strange teardrop-shaped green fruit.

**This is Isma’s Tear, it gives the holder complete immunity to acids and poisons. I don’t know if this one will work for you, though. It worked fine for me when I kept it in my pocket-space, but you might have to eat it. I’ll have to check if it’s safe for humans to eat before I let you get anywhere near it.**

Zuko nodded in agreement. He wasn’t about to eat some weird magic fruit that might poison him! He may do dumb things sometimes, but even he wasn’t stupid enough to eat strange, possibly-poisonous fruit.

Ghost reached into the bag yet again and withdrew a small, bronze disk.

**The last thing is the Mantis Claw. It allows the user to grip on to virtually any surface with their bare hands. I found it especially useful when I was still soft-bodied and lacked claws of my own.**

“How does a metal circle help me grip things? Is it magic like the Monarch Wings?” Zuko asked in slight confusion.

**Sort of. It attaches to your chest and gives you magic grippy-claws! Though in your case, it might just make your palms sticky enough to let you climb walls. I’m not too sure. It also blocks vertigo, so even when you’re upside-down, you feel fine. That was always fun! Do you want to try it? Since it’s an artifact like the Monarch Wings, it’s removable if it doesn’t work.**

“Sure, it’s worth a shot,” Zuko said, mentally salivating at the thought of all the different, previously impossible to climb places being accessible to him. While he could fly now, the wings were super conspicuous, what with them being massive and glowing, and also kind of loud. Climbing was much more subtle, and Zuko was excited by all the possible sneaking opportunities. 

Zuko was a fantastic climber by himself, and nowhere would be un-climbable if he had magic grippy hands! He could be like those ninjas he read about in some of his old theater scrolls as a child.

**Lift up your shirt, in that case. This one needs skin contact, too. Your hands might feel tingly or something, but the Mantis Claw doesn’t use Soul except to activate the bonding process the first time. After that, it's totally free to use.**

Zuko obediently raised his tunic up to his collar bone and Ghost placed the disk on his chest. Zuko sent some Soul to it, and it glowed briefly before it adhered to his skin like the Monarch Wings had.

His fingertips tingled and glowed faintly. His fingernails darkened to a matte black before they lengthened and sharpened into hooked claws. They were quite small, only extending about a half-inch past his fingertips. 

Then, his feet began to tingle as well and he swiftly yanked off his boots to witness the same process repeat itself. The palms of his hands and the bottoms of his feet tingled some more before the feeling vanished. He brushed the backs of his new claws over his palms. The skin felt tougher, even though nothing about his skin had changed.

**How interesting! I didn’t think it would give you claws of your own! Time to see if it did anything more than that!**

Ghost pointed to something behind Zuko. He turned to see that one portion of the Lighthouse’s walls had survived intact. Zuko stood up and approached the wall. He glanced at his hands before he placed them high up on the wall, above his head. He dug his new claws into the wall, feeling the old stone give way slightly. His claws were definitely tougher than his old fingernails, then.

He tensed his arms and hauled himself upwards at an awkward angle. He placed his feet upon the stone wall as well, in an attempt to relieve his arms of some of the strain. The balls of his feet seemed to adhere to the wall with no effort on his part. 

He dug the claws of one hand out from the stone and placed his palm flat on the wall, not actually gripping anything with his fingers this time. Again, his palms stuck inexplicably to the surface. He let out a laugh and scrambled up the wall faster than he was ever able to do before. He perched upon the lip of the wall like a pleased pygmy-puma.

Ghost waved up at them from below.

**Now see if you can come down head-first! The Mantis Claw should also eliminate any vertigo you feel. Don’t worry, I’ll be right here to catch you if you fall!**

Zuko mock-pouted. He wouldn’t fall! He was going to be the best climber that ever walked the Four Nations. Let’s see Uncle scold him for two hours for not using a safety rope when he could climb upside-down on the ceilings of the  _ Wani  _ with his bare-ass hands!

Zuko carefully transitioned himself to climb head-first down the wall like a gecko-frog and reveled in the feeling of not having all his blood rush to his head. This was the best thing ever! He officially loved the Mantis Claw. 

While growing actual claws of his own was slightly off-putting, if this was the result, it was so worth it! Unlike his glowing eyes, he could easily hide the small claws with gloves if need be, or he could simply unequip the Mantis Claw.

“This thing is amazing! You’re really okay with me keeping these things?” Zuko asked, wanting confirmation before he really got his hopes up.

**Of course! Not like I have much use for them now, anyways. Aside from some of the more unusual artifacts, I’ve been able to figure out how to replicate most of the effects myself using Soul.**

At that moment, Zuko’s stomach growled loudly in the silence of the Abyss. He’d not really noticed how hungry he was in all the excitement.

**Perhaps a lunch break is in order before we continue. Let’s go to the orchards in the temple above, some of the fruits should be ready by now, and if we’re lucky, maybe a Lifeblood cocoon will be too!**

“Lifeblood? What’s that?”

**Oh, it’s sort of like honey, it’s made by little bugs called Lifeseeds, and they harvest the nectar of these special blue flowers to make it. It’s absolutely delicious, and it can help speed up healing and energize you!**

“That sounds interesting, if there’s any available, I wouldn’t mind trying some,” Zuko said, intrigued. Ghost put their stuff back into the bag, before they grabbed it off the ground.

**Now, put those new wings of yours to good use and race me up to the entrance!**

Ghost extended their wings from their back and took flight, laughing as they flew away.

“Hey, no fair!” He cried out, already following them into the air.

* * *

While Zuko had been to the Southern Air Temple before, he hadn’t explored all that much before stumbling onto the entrance to the Abyss. After Ghost had told him where to find the Avatar, he’d left in short order, because the whole point of searching the temples was for clues, and he had no reason to stay when he’d just been given the answer.

It was a bit different than the other temples, probably because the temple hadn’t fallen to decay and disrepair like the others had, due to actually having occupants. Well, there were those Earth Kingdom refugees at the Northern Air Temple, but that was different, since they had only recently moved in, and had already drastically altered the temple with their modern inventions.

The siblings had done their best to preserve the spirit of the temple’s previous culture. Things had been repainted in the original colors, and the siblings’ new murals only occurred on walls that were already blank. 

The new murals the siblings made usually featured Ghost in some form. Most depicted them fighting things in their Shade Lord form, but a few showed Ghost battling foes in their younger, smaller form. 

There had been a couple that depicted Grimm and Ghost dancing together, holding each other in a loving embrace. Ghost had looked longingly at those few for a long time before Zuko managed to convince them to keep moving.

* * *

They eventually arrived at the orchards. The trees were laden with fruit, much more than was normal for this time of year. Ghost explained it as the influence of the Lifeblood cocoons and the Lifeseeds. Apparently, their very presence influenced the growth of nearby plants positively.

Zuko ate his fill of fruit, and eventually tried some Lifeblood that Ghost had managed to collect from a couple of the small blue cocoons that dotted the grove. The Lifeseeds were skittish creatures, so Zuko had only managed to get a few glimpses of the tiny, plump creatures.

The Lifeblood was indeed delicious. It was more liquidy than honey, but it was sweet and sour and sticky, with a sort of zingy aftertaste. Zuko struggled to fully explain it, but he did feel more lively after eating some. He washed his hands in the stream that ran through the grove, mindful of his new claws.

Ghost eventually led them to a wide open courtyard and set their sack of treasures down. They pulled out the items from before and motioned for Zuko to come closer. They took out the Shade Cloak and draped it over Zuko’s shoulders. They struggled to close it at his neck.

**Darn, the clasp is broken! I suppose I could use one of the more harmless charms to hold it closed…**

“Charms?” Zuko asked.

**Small magical artifacts. Some are constructed on purpose by a craftsman, others, usually ones with more unusual effects, can come into existence in places with high concentrations of magic, or through the wishes and hopes of a dying bug.**

Ghost pulled out a familiar silver case from the bag and sat down on the ground, holding it in their lap as they fiddled with the latches holding it closed. Zuko joined them on the ground, scooching closer to peer into the case alongside his friend. 

Ghost undid the latches and the case popped open. Dozens of shining metal pins laid out in neat rows greeted the pair. They selected a green one that had a strange-looking face on it before turning to him. They made a motion to pin the cloak closed with it before they suddenly stopped.

**I forgot...you don’t have any charm notches. You won’t be able to use charms without them, they’ll just be pieces of inert metal.**

“What are charm notches?” Zuko inquired.

**They are minor artifacts of magic that help regulate how charm magic flows through you. They stabilize the magic and help distribute it more evenly. The more charm notches you have, the more charms you can use at once without becoming overcharmed.**

“Overcharmed?” Zuko parroted.

**When the magic of charms is unbalanced, you become much more fragile and easier to damage or injure. It’s not a good thing, but it can be easily fixed by unequipping charms until the magic stabilizes again. Some charms need more notches to stabilize them properly, so even though you might have a certain number of notches, you have to calculate how many notches each charm will use and add the total up. If it equals or is below the number of notches you have, you’re fine. If not, you need to rework your charm setup or be prepared to deal with being overcharmed.**

“Oh. That kinda sucks. You wouldn’t happen to have any notches in that bag, would you?”

They rooted around in the sack for a small time, eventually becoming fed up and dumping the whole bag upside down. Many items clattered to the floor, including a familiar silver sword.

“Hey, it’s that sword you had in that coliseum place! Can I hold it? I use the Dual Dao swords myself, but I learned a thing or two about forging from Master Piandao as well. Even from here, I can tell the craftsmanship is top-notch!” He said excitedly. He so rarely had the opportunity to indulge his love for swords on the ship.

**Go ahead. It’s called a Nail, actually. More specifically, this one is a Pure Nail. It’s the last Nail ever crafted by the Nailsmith of the City of Tears before he retired.**

“City of Tears? Was that a place in Hallownest?” He asked while examining the Pure Nail. He marveled over the detailing and admired the way it shone in the sunlight.

**Yes. It was the biggest settlement in all of Hallownest actually. It housed a majority of the population before the Infection wiped almost everyone out. It got its name from the way it always rained in the city, despite it being underground. It was built below an underground lake, see? The ceiling developed small cracks in it when the city was first being built and the water from the Blue Lake above started leaking through, making it look like it was raining.**

“Oh. I bet it looked really cool, shame it's gone though. I’d have loved to see that,” He said.

Ghost simply hummed as they sorted through the collection of odds and ends. They collected up a few pieces of what appeared to be petrified wood with indentations in the middle.

**Ah, here, I’ve got the notches. I utilized them when they were in my pocket-space though. I’m not sure how to make them work for you. Maybe I could put them all on a string and you could wear them like a necklace?**

“Whatever you think will work best? Not like I have any clue on how to get them to work,” Zuko pointed out.

Ghost nodded before attempting to spin their Soul into silk like their half-sister was able to do. It took a few tries, but they eventually had a shining strand of Soul-Silk pinched between two fingers. 

They carefully bore tiny holes into the tops of each charm notch with their Soul before threading the Soul-Silk strand through. They tied the ends together and draped the whole thing over Zuko’s head where it settled about his neck in a somewhat clunky necklace. 

“Umm, maybe it would be better attached to my belt? It’s kind of clunky around my neck like this,” Zuko suggested.

He removed the string of charm notches from around his neck and untied the ends of the necklace. He hiked up his shirt again and tied one end of the shining string through one of the unused belt holes on the side before tying the other around the side of his belt buckle. He stood up and the line of notches swung only slightly from its spot alongside his belt.

**That works. Here, see if these work for you now.**

Ghost selected a few of the more harmless charms before using one to hold Zuko’s new cloak closed and attaching the rest to the cloak’s collar. They handed Zuko their now much too small Pure Nail and pointed at a blank wall a dozen feet away from them.

**Swing the Nail at that wall. If the notches are working properly, a small white energy blast will come out of the Nail.**

Zuko’s singular remaining eyebrow rose, but he did as instructed. A white wave of energy shot from the end of the Nail to smack into the far wall. It left a small scorch mark on the stone.

“Hey, it worked! Ghost? ...Ghost?” Zuko called again. Ghost’s eyes were glued to something in the charm case. Zuko walked over and then they understood. Ghost was staring intently at the charm that summoned Grimmchild. Ghost's mental voice was especially quiet when they next spoke.

**I’m scared to use it. What if nothing happens? I’ve suspected for years that they were gone, but if I put it on, I’ll know for sure. I’m not sure if I should. I don’t know what I’ll do if he is truly dead, Friend…**

“Wouldn’t closure be better, though? I’m right here with you, you won’t be alone again,” Zuko consoled them.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Ghost took in a shuddering inhale through their sides before they snatched the pin from its resting place and pressed it hard to their shell. The pin stuck there when they removed their hand. 

The sun above them dimmed noticeably. Zuko’s inner fire stuttered and died in his chest. He clutched at his suddenly freezing cold center.

Scarlet fire flared in front of the pair, and Zuko’s fire roared back to life with an angry vengeance, stronger than he’d ever felt it before.

Light bloomed in front of them, so bright it was like the sun had decided to come visit the surface of the Four Nations, and if the state of his inner fire was anything to go by, maybe it had. There was an angry roaring sound. 

**_“Who dares summon me?!”_ ** An angry voice demanded.

The light dimmed to tolerable levels and Zuko couldn’t believe his eyes.

Deep in the bowels of the Dragonbone Catacombs beneath the High Temple of the Sun in the Fire Nation, there existed the singular, definitive image of what Agni, the Patron Spirit of the Sun, was supposed to look like. 

It was a very ancient cave painting depicting Agni when He crossed over to the Mortal Realm and bestowed firebending onto the first dragons and taught humans how to harness fire for their own uses. 

It was remarkably detailed for such an ancient and primitive drawing, and there was no mistaking that smooth, pale face marred only by the tear tracts burned into it, those fiery red eyes, the flaming mane, the towering horns cradling the First Flame, or the sharp fangs.

Zuko’s bending and eyeballs insisted that what stood before them was the real deal, but his brain just couldn’t believe what Zuko’s inner fire or ocular organs were telling it.

Agni’s furious red eyes bore into Zuko’s own before they seemed to slide off him to peer at Ghost who was standing slightly behind Zuko. 

Agni’s eyes widened to massive proportions and His mouth dropped open in shock. His wide, disbelieving eyes drank in the form of Ghost. 

“Momma?” Agni breathed in a small, childlike tone.

Zuko could be forgiven for his reaction to that particular piece of info.

His eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out in a dead faint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how about that massive drama bomb??? This was one of the scenes that inspired the writing of this story in the first place, so this chappie is especially special to me :) Now, regarding the progression of this story. I need you guys to vote on how you want this to play out. I'll lay out some numbered options and you can vote in the comments. I can't write more chapters until I can decide on this, so if I only get a couple of responses in the next few days, I'll have to base my decision on that, so make sure to vote if you want your voice heard! Now, the options:
> 
> 1) Ghost and Zuko simply remain best friends, with the possibility of some kind of platonic life-partnership when zuko gets older. Zuko is asexual and does not feel sexual urges, although they do desire an emotionally intimate relationship with someone. Zuko is not related to Grimmchild/Agni at all, Agni just blessed a small family of humans with firebending so that they could teach others, and thats where the fire nation royal family comes from.
> 
> 2) Zuko is not related to Grimmchild/Agni in any way, see option 1 for explaination for that part. Ghost and Zuko's relationship changes after Ghost realizes their child is still alive. While zuko was never a replacement for Grimmchild, Ghost's subconscious mind saw them like a child that needed guidance and protection, but now that Grimmchild is alive, this is no longer the case. Ghost and Zuko's friendship evolves into something more during their time blundering around the earth kingdom searching for iroh. They become romantically involved, and there will be intimacy, but I'll try to keep the rating T. Anything smexy happens off-screen, though I may post a separate story containing those scenes if people express interest.
> 
> 3) Zuko is actually the descendant of Agni, who temporarily took on a more human form to court someone he fell in love with during his time in the mortal realm. This is where the fire nation royal family descends from, which is one explanation of why zuko's fire went all nightmare-mode when he was given dream essence. Ghost realizes this means that zuko is their great-great-insert-many-greats-here-grandson and they proceed to flip their shit and now openly coddle zuko and call him their grandbaby. 
> 
> No matter which option you pick, Agni appoints zuko as his chosen heir/champion in the mortal realm due to him wielding nightmare flame, which Grimmchild/Agni has lost access to because of reasons i will explain in the chapter. Once word gets out that zuko was hand-picked by Agni, that causes some serious butterflies in the geo-political scene of the four nations. Although, for different reasons depending on what option I decided to go with
> 
> If you like bits and pieces of each option, describe it to me in the comments and I may take them into consideration. no guarantees though, so no pouting if i don't use your ideas. if i do, i will credit the poster in that chapter's author's notes. Voting will remain open for three days at maximum, because I want to write this story while I have the motivation. If i don't get any responses, i might have to resort to a dice-roll :/


	17. I Feel Like the Maid! I Just Cleaned Up this Mess! I Leave For Five Minutes and Look at what Happened!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cackles manically* yessss, I had so much fun writing this chapter! Enjoy my completely made up origins for firebending that i still tried to fit into the canon lore of having learned from dragons. The overwhelming response from you guys almost unanimously voted for option 3, but plenty of people like 1 as well so im doing a combo of both options!

Ghost hardly registered Zuko crumpling to the ground. Normally they would be extremely concerned about that, but their mind was only focused on the impossible sight before them. If they were dreaming, they never wanted to wake up again. 

_ He’salviehe’salivehe’saliveHE’SALIVELITTLEONEMISSEDYOULOVEYOULOVELOVELOVE _

Ghost stumbled forward on unsteady legs. They reached out with their arms and their baby ( _ theirbaby’salivehe’salive _ ), caught them as they stumbled. They sank toward the ground together, clutching each other tightly. Ghost let out a keening wail, tears of Void cascading down their face in a steady flow.

Though all they wanted to do was hold their baby forever, they leaned back from the embrace to look at their baby’s face, all grown up. 

( _ grownupwithoutthemtheregrewupaloneabondoned _ ) ( _ noneverneverabandoneddidn’twanttoleave _ )

( _ hadtoleave _ )

Little One wasn’t so little anymore. He was a good foot and a half taller than them, and they were already much taller than everyone else. Little One had clearly inherited the best of Grimm’s and Ghost’s height genes. 

He also seemed to have inherited Ghost proclivity for extra arms. That was a bit odd, they thought their extra arms had been a conscious decision when they underwent metamorphosis, but perhaps it was genetic holdover from the Pale King, who was technically Little One’s grandfather. The Pale King had four main arms, and countless tiny legs along His tail-like lower half that he used to get around.

Little One had a ruff of fur like they did, but his was made of fire. His horns resembled a mix between Ghost’s and Grimm’s, tall and swept backwards, but with a curving fork near the top. The curving horns cradled a small ball of bright red flame, like it was some sort of crown. In addition to a ruff, they also seemed to be wearing a cloak, but Ghost then realized it was just Little One’s strange leathery wings cleverly folded up around himself, like Grimm used to do.

Their face was sloped and pointed like Ghost’s was currently, but he had black tracts carved into his face below his eyes like Grimm did. Their eyes were all Grimm’s though, burning red and slanted just so. His mouth was mostly like Grimm’s too, almost invisible except when it was opened, and full of razor sharp fangs made for shredding flesh, but he also possessed chelicerae like Ghost did. 

They hung down from his mouth limply, indicating extreme surprise or shock, which matched up well with their expression. Though their face was smooth and white like Ghost’s, it was mobile, allowing for snarls and smiles alike. 

“Mother…? You’re alive? I don’t understand why or how, but dammit, I don’t care!” Little One said. They held each other in an embrace for a long time nuzzling each other and brushing hands over faces and horns to reassure themselves that what they were each seeing was real. 

Ghost finally collected their thoughts enough to attempt speech. Speaking with their mouth was actually easier than the Void-speech they normally used, but because of the way their mouth was structured, human language was beyond them. Little One could manage the human tongue just fine it seemed, but he also had actual teeth and just one tongue.

“ _ Baby, missed you so much, baby! Thought you dead for so long, couldn’t bear thought of using charm and nothing happening! Was better to not confirm what thought fact _ ,” Ghost babbled in High Paleian, their speech patterns degrading in the face of their overwhelming emotions.

“ _ What made you finally decide to use it then? _ ” Little One asked, also in High Paleian.

Ghost was mildly surprised at that, but they supposed Hornet must have taught him.

“ _ Friend convinced me. He is a good Friend. He found the Abyss and that alerted me to the fact that there was life in the world again. I decided to join him on his quest to capture the Avatar _ ,” Ghost answered. They turned and remembered that Zuko was currently passed out on the ground. They reached over and propped him up slightly so that his head was resting in their lap and not on the stone floor.

“ _ Well, thank everything that he did! Wait, what do you mean, ‘there was life in the world again’? After the last time you summoned me, the Infection ended shortly after, and everyone thought you had sacrificed yourself to defeat the Radiance once you didn’t return. Hornet and Hollow eventually journeyed to the Junkpit when I led them there, and we found the remnants of your shattered shell and the body of the Godseeker _ ,” Little One said. “ _ We all thought you dead, especially when the entrance to the Abyss vanished. _ ”

Ghost made a mournful sound and began explaining.

“ _ After I said goodbye to you in Godhome, I battled my way through the final Pantheon and fought the Absolute Radiance, it was Her most powerful and truest form. I defeated her and united the Void under my Will and gave it Focus. I Ascended into the Lord of Shades and I ate Her. After that, I destroyed Godhome and killed all the Godseekers so that they wouldn’t accidentally power up another Higher Being bent on destruction again, and also because I was furious with them and my new powers were overwhelming.  _

_ When I managed to force my way back into the Real World, I was so tired. Tired from fighting, tired of all the Infection stagshit and tired from Ascending. I figured a small nap wouldn’t hurt and returned to the Abyss to rest and hoped that everyone would leave me alone long enough to get a decent nap. My new powers must have interpreted that weirdly and made the Abyss completely inaccessible to anyone else.  _

_ When I woke up, Hallownest was totally gone, reduced to crumbling dead caves and dust. The Wastelands seemed never-ending and empty. When I figured out that ages must have gone by while I slept, and that everyone, you included, must have long since passed away, I fell into despair and returned back to the Abyss to wallow in my misery. All I had left was my memories, and I clung desperately to them, not wanting to lose what small pieces of you remained. _ ”

“ _ Oh, mother… _ ” He started. “ _ It’s okay, I’m here now. _ ”

“ _ Are Hollow or Hornet still around? _ ” They asked, reluctantly hopeful.

“ _ I’m sorry to say they both passed an age ago. They both lived full lives after the Infection disappeared. Hornet and Hollow tried to restore Hallownest, but the place just kept falling apart without the magic of the Pale King to fuel it. They eventually decided to take a page out of father’s book and become nomadic.  _

_ They joined father’s troupe, just to travel, not actually as members, mind you. Hornet and Hollow often took me along during their adventures. We saw many foreign places and other kingdoms, but they too, were on the decline. Higher Beings everywhere seemed to go dormant or disappear, and no kingdom could resist being subsumed by the Wastelands without them.  _

_ I took over as Troupe Master eventually, but there weren’t many members left at that point. All the old members eventually left or died of old age. Food became scarcer, so we all eventually retreated to the Dream Realm to live out the last decades of their lives. I didn’t seem to age past adulthood, no matter how many times I molted. They both eventually passed peacefully in their sleep after many long years of life. _ ” He explained sadly.

“ _ Hollow didn’t leave a shade? _ ”

“ _ No, they had made peace with themselves, and I think they started looking forward to moving on once their body began to fail them. _ ”

“ _ At least I have you, Little One… _ ” 

* * *

Unnoticed by the both of them, Zuko had quietly woken up some time ago and had frozen stock still at the sight of his patron deity calmly sitting across from Ghost, holding their four hands in His own four. 

_ Huh, that wasn’t part of the mural. Guess they were always hidden under His robes. _ Zuko thought, slightly hysterical. 

His eyes had started to glow again, his control over his inner flame completely gone, overwhelmed in Agni’s immense presence. Zuko couldn’t find it within himself to care at the moment.

Zuko listened with half an ear to the conversation in a language he couldn’t understand, but he was too busy trying to make sense of the absolute insanity that was his life.

He must have made some kind of sound, because both Higher Beings attention was now solidly on him. He let out a noise that he would deny ever making to his dying day.

He froze beneath the weighty stares of both Beings, and then realized he was being extremely rude by not introducing himself. He scrambled upright before throwing himself into the deepest possible bow, forehead on the ground. 

“I-it is the highest honor to be in y-your presence, Your Grace!” He stuttered into the floor. He was probably making a fool of himself, but he didn’t know what else to do! There was no protocol for meeting Agni Himself! So, Zuko just went with the most respectful and polite greeting his panicking brain could come up with on short notice.

Zuko had gotten half his face burned off by his own father for disrespect in the past, and he didn’t even want to imagine what Agni would do to him if He felt slighted.

“This is the one that ventured into the bowels of the Abyss and confronted you in your Ascended form? I can see why you like him!” Agni said switching back to a language Zuko could understand, sounding delighted. Good, that was good, He didn’t sound angry.

There was a quiet smacking sound, like Ghost had slapped Agni’s arm in a gentle chiding, but he dared not look up without permission to rise from his bow.

**Little One! This is Friend, be nice to him!**

“Oh very well then Mother, but only since you asked so nicely! Rise then, young one, and introduce yourself properly. I’m eager to meet anyone gifted with the Nightmare Flame. It has been an age since I have last seen it used,” Agni said, still sounding extremely amused. Zuko sat up from his bow and was about to introduce himself, but he was interrupted by Ghost.

**What do you mean? You inherited Grimm’s powers didn’t you?**

“Well, yes, but my ability to manipulate the Dream Realm has decayed ever since the Old Light was defeated. The Dream Realm is supposed to flow and change on a whim, but it has stagnated to a near standstill after Her death. I haven’t been able to walk the Real World in centuries! The Dram Realm is extremely difficult to manipulate when it is so still, but recently, things started to move again, just a little. That wouldn’t happen to be your doing, would it?”

Ghost looked a little sheepish.

**I didn’t touch the Dream Realm at all after I Ascended. Friend and I were going to use it and the Dreamnail to travel to the Abyss to get my things, but something happened and it got left behind. We got stuck in the Dream Realm, and I wasn’t practiced enough with my powers to find our way back to the ship, the only place I could reliably get to was the Abyss, due to my connection to it.**

“Well, that explains a few things then. Over the years of stagnation, the thoughts and dreams of the humans were able to gain a foothold and they developed minds of their own, interestingly enough. The humans call the dream constructs ‘spirits’ and they renamed the Dream Realm the Spirit World, last I was aware. There were rumors going around that something had gone and offed Koh. Never did like that creepy bastard anyway -- good riddance. While I can’t really help get you back to the ship you were on, much too small a target, I can tell you where the Dream Realm is thinnest. It leads to some forest in the Earth Kingdom, I believe.”

**Wait, that means the Spirit World is the Dream Realm?! That...explains a lot. Oh...and I think I already opened a portal there before. There was a town in the forest.**

“Was there? I’m afraid I haven’t really been able to check up on the Real World in the last hundred years or so. There is this bothersome comet that comes by every so often, it always causes me and Tui mountains of work! One of these days I’m going to just get rid of it, it's nothing but trouble, I swear! It throws the heavenly balance out of whack so badly, and it takes weeks to stabilize things again!” Agni griped.

“Wait, so you don’t know about the war?! The genocide, anything like that at all? What about the March of Civilization?” Zuko blurted out, shocked. 

His father and the Fire Sages of Agni’s temple all claimed that it was Agni’s will that they spread the glory and civilization of the Fire Nation to the other, more primitive cultures.

“The  _ WHAT _ ?!” Agni roared. His flaming ruff and the red fire above His head flared aggressively. “The humans are at war?! How bad is it? Who’s involved? And what was that about a  _ genocide _ ?!” Agni demanded, pinning Zuko with a scarily intense look. 

Zuko’s eyes glowed brighter in fear and began babbling out an explanation of everything he knew about the Hundred Year War, Sozin’s Comet, and the Genocide of the Air Nomads. When he was done, Agni’s face was frighteningly blank.

“... _ What? _ No, seriously, what the actual, genuine,  _ literal  _ **_FUCK_ ** ?! First of all, I knew that comet was going to be nothing but trouble, and Tui owes me, like, five cases of Bloodwine! Secondly, I never said anything to anyone about some ‘glorious conquest’! I haven’t even been to the Real World in centuries! The Nations are supposed to balance each other, not do whatever the hell this mess is! If those assholes in charge claimed that I supported them, then they’re lying liars who lied right to everyone’s faces! I would never support a war based on nothing but conquest! 

Thirdly, I gave fire and knowledge to the humans so that they could grow and help one another survive and create civilization, not burn everything to the ground and use it to wipe out an entire fucking race of pacifists! Firebending wasn’t even supposed to exist! That one was an accident, and only partially my fault!” Agni yelled. He was absolutely furious and quite literally spitting fire, but Zuko spoke up because he had to know.

“...What do you mean firebending wasn’t supposed to exist? Are you...are you mad that the Fire Nation exists?” Zuko asked meekly.

“What? No, of course not! I’m furious at the atrocities the Fire Nation has committed against the other Nations, but that doesn’t mean I think it shouldn’t exist! People need to stop putting words in my mouth! Firebending was a complete accident, but let me explain,” Agni took a deep breath before continuing.

“Centuries ago, when I walked the Real World fairly regularly, I met someone. 

I had disguised myself as a human using magic so that I wouldn’t draw attention to myself during my journeys. She was cold and lost, separated from her tribe. She came across me in the jungle while I was collecting Lifeseeds to take back to the Dream Realm with me. She begged me for assistance, even though I did not speak her language. I was so surprised to see her that I conjured fire with my magic to warm her up without thinking about it. She was shocked at first, of course, but didn’t flinch away from me. 

Through a series of charades, she told me her name was Kai, and when she asked for my name, I told her it was Agni. I had not yet named myself at that point. Everyone from before knew me as Grimmchild, so I never felt the need to choose an adult name before then. I chose it on a whim, but I decided I liked it, and so I went by Agni after that. 

We spent many weeks together searching for her people, and she taught me the human tongue. She was the next spiritual leader of the tribe you see, sort of like a priestess-in-training. She had gotten lost during her spirit quest, the final test before one became the new High Priestess of the village. She assumed that I was the spirit she was destined to meet on her quest. I didn’t correct her assumption.

When we finally located her people, the village was being attacked by a rival tribe. I drove off the invaders with my fire and magic, but in the process I lost concentration and my illusion fell. The villagers were terrified of my true form, some declared me a demon or a malevolent spirit, but Kai vouched for me. She told them of our journey together and how I had saved her and asked for nothing in return, and the villagers hailed me as a hero for returning Kai safely. They threw a feast in my honor for saving them, as well as for Kai’s safe return and promotion to High Priestess of the village. 

She asked me to bless the shrine they built for me and I did. I could not refuse her anything, for I had fallen in love with her over those weeks we spent together. I could not stay for much longer after that though, I had already spent too much time away from my personal section of the Dream Realm. It wasn’t quite the Nightmare Realm anymore though, my Nighmare powers had already started to diminish. The Nightmare Heart shrunk over the years as I struggled to maintain my powers. It needed near-constant attention and I had already been gone too long.

I confessed my love for her that night and she reciprocated the feelings. We spent the night together, but in the morning I had to return to the Dream Realm. She told me that she understood but that she would wait for me to return.

I came back as soon as I could, and I discovered that the night we spent together had born unexpected fruit. Kai was pregnant, something that shocked me, as I had not even suspected that that was a possibility. Humans are so different from bugs, but magic works in mysterious ways, and I guess my status as a Higher Being was enough to allow the child to live.

Again, I stayed as long as I could, and we enjoyed many months together. Kai eventually gave birth, and to my surprise, the child was entirely human-looking aside from a few small features like horns, claws, fangs, and glowing eyes. 

She was able to manipulate flame like I could, albeit not on quite as grand a scale. We named her Li. The village celebrated her birth, and she was slated to become the next High Priestess after Kai retired. 

I had to leave again soon after Li’s birth, and I had to stay in the Dream Realm for longer and longer stretches of time. I stole whatever time I could with Kai and Li, but it was never enough. Near the end of Kai’s life, returning to the Real World was becoming near impossible. I stayed with her as she passed peacefully in her sleep after a relatively long life at the time. 

I used what was left of my powers to manifest a pair of fierce guardians to protect the village when I could no longer return to the Real World. I based them slightly off of Wyrms and blessed them with fire as well. I gave them enough intelligence to rival a human, and named them Ran and Shaw, after the color of their scales in the ancient tongue. 

The fact that the feistier red one’s name resembled Hornet’s old battle cry is a complete coincidence! 

Anyway, I returned for the final time to the Dream Realm after spending one last day with my beloved daughter, and the rest, they say, is history. My fire powers grew stronger over time as my Nightmare powers weakened due to the beliefs of the humans influencing me slightly while I resided in the Dream Realm. 

I occasionally mustered up the emotional and magical strength to look in on the village from time to time. While I could no longer cross the barrier between the Realms, I could peer through it with enough focus. 

The village had turned into a thriving civilization and they worshiped me as the spirit of the sun. My daughter was able to teach others how to harness flame by having them watch the guardians, who had long since bred and produced a multitude of colorful offspring.

The Nightmare Heart had long since shrunken into a mere shadow of its former self. That was okay though, since I took up stewardship of the sun, making sure it was functioning optimally and stabilizing its fluctuations. The new connection with the sun soon subsumed the connection I had to the weakened Nightmare Heart, but aside from losing my Nightmare powers completely, nothing else of note happened. I could still manipulate the Dream Realm to a small extent, but it was just so difficult with everything so still and stagnant.

The worship from the humans empowered me and I was happy to have a purpose besides mere survival. I did the job gladly and I rarely checked up on the humans anymore, certain that they were doing fine in my absence. I was wrong, apparently.” 

Agni’s epic tale finally came to a close.

They sat in silence for a bit, before Ghost jerked violently and let out a high-pitched squealing sound.

**You mean I have** **_GRANDBABIES_ ** **?!**

Agni sighed. “Oh boy, here we go…Mother, before you forget yourself, I have no idea who my descendants actually are!”

Zuko’s brain had gone numb from all the craziness he’d experienced over the past couple of hours, so he could be forgiven when he unthinkingly blurted out, “Actually, ancient records from the palace date back many centuries, and the Fire Nation Royal Family was said to have descended from, uh, yourself, Your Grace, and uh, I...thinkImightbeyourdecendant?”

“Oh, stop it with the ‘Your Grace’ nonsense, just call me Agni. And now that I’m looking at you, your face does resemble Li’s quite strongly...hmmmm,” Agni trailed off. “What is your name? I don’t believe we ever got around to introductions.”

“Uh, it’s Zuko, Agni, sir,” He managed to get out awkwardly.

“Hmmm, curious. Here, hold this,” Agni said. He casually plucked the First Flame from where it was hovering just above his horns and placed it in Zuko’s hands. It flared a deeper red and grew slightly in size, before it began pulsing with a noticeable heartbeat.

“Well, I’ll be damned, looks like you are related to me! Only a true wielder of Nightmare Flame could restart the Nightmare Heart like that! I haven’t seen it so active in ages! Here, you can keep it, my new anchor is the sun, so it’s not like I need it anymore,” He said delightedly, like he hadn’t just casually destroyed Zuko’s entire worldview in the span of one long conversation and given him the single most priceless firebending artifact  _ ever _ .

“I’m actually related to  _ Agni _ ?” Zuko whispered to himself, trying to not pass out again.

“You might want to brace yourself,” Agni stage whispered, before taking two large steps away from Zuko.

“Wha-” Zuko was cut off by Ghost barreling into them, hugging him tighter than they ever had before.

**GRANDBABY!! I HAVE GRANDBABIES!! YOU’RE MY GRANDBABY!!** **_EEEEEE_ ** **!!**

Ghost was crying in happiness and squee-ing at a volume Zuko didn’t even know was possible. Zuko had a mildly horrifying realization.

_ Oh, dear sweet uhh...Agni...Ghost is going to be insufferable now! _

Zuko squirmed to try and escape the hold, but resistance was futile. He would be hugged, whether he liked it or not. Agni was laughing his ass off in the background, his deep, raspy voice contrasting oddly with the mad cackle he had going on.

* * *

The hug lasted for way too long in Zuko’s opinion, but Ghost eventually put him down again, fussing over him like a mother sow-hen. Zuko wore the First Flame, or, he supposed, the Nightmare Heart, above his head like Agni had. The thing just hovered there above his mostly-bald head, and it moved with him. It was very odd, the way his inner fire now followed the simultaneous beating of his normal heart and the Nightmare Heart he was now connected to, instead of his breathing like it had before.

Agni eventually exchanged goodbyes with Ghost after giving them tips on how to manipulate the Dream Realm, saying that the sun needed almost as much attention as the Nightmare Heart used to. Ghost made a promise to come visit Him in the Dream Realm later, before Ghost removed the charm that had summoned Him there.

The resulting stuttering of his inner flame was still terrifying, although it didn’t completely vanish like it had before, which was a bit odd. The dim setting sun flared back to full power, something that Zuko hadn’t even noticed, given that Agni had been mere feet away from him for hours.

Ghost and Zuko made their way back to what used to be Koh’s lair and bedded down in the nest for the night. Ghost wouldn’t stop trying to snuggle them and Zuko eventually gave up on resisting it, writing it off as a lost cause. He refused to admit that being cuddled like that felt nice.

* * *

While Ghost dropped off to sleep quite quickly, Zuko lay awake for hours, contemplating the war and his role in it. Literal  _ AGNI HIMSELF _ condemned the war and everything it stood for. He was horrified over the genocide of the Air Nomads, although, to be fair, Zuko was too. He’d seen the aftermath of those battles; tiny, burned skeletons huddled up together in corners, adult-sized bones laid out around them. 

It was hard for Zuko to justify that to himself even back then, but he’d trusted his father and was determined to go home, so he cleared out the bones and laid them to rest in the only way he knew how, and pointedly refused to think on the subject further.

_ Agni Himself _ had said that the war needed to end, for the balance of the world. Zuko felt very conflicted, and struggled to fall asleep. Ghost’s reassuring presence behind him helped, and he eventually dropped off to sleep, and he dreamed of a flaming, beating heart.

* * *

Things elsewhere were not going nearly as smooth. The entire Fire Nation and every other living firebender felt their inner flames go out momentarily before flaring up again, stronger than before. Every firebender’s innate connection to the sun told them that the sun was now located far to the South, for some reason. The actual sun had dimmed noticeably in the sky and literally every other human that wasn’t living underground had noticed that. 

With the dimming of the sun, came a diminished heat from it as well. The rest of the earth began to cool off, as if during a partial eclipse. After several hours though, when the sun began to set, every firebender’s inner flame had gone out again, before returning, though this time at normal strength. The connection returned to normal as well, saying that the sun was right where it was supposed to be.

The entirety of the rest of the world, the Fire Nation especially, was thrown into momentary chaos. The Fire Sages were scrambling to come up with an explanation for the phenomenon, but they were just as lost as everyone else. They did, however, notice that the old relics they used to commune with Agni felt different from before.

They shone with an odd inner light and were now constantly warm to the touch. When the Fire Sages used them in an attempt to communicate with Agni, they felt a deep sense of anger and hurt, as well as disappointment. That wasn’t good! Somehow they had done something to upset Agni so badly that the sun had dimmed in the sky and sent their firebending into fits, confusing their connection and making it say that the sun was located in an impossible place!

They struggled to find a way to explain that to Ozai and the general populace without causing undue panic, but they couldn’t see a way around it. They just hoped the Fire Lord would see reason and not have them all executed for something they couldn’t control. They weren’t going to hold their breaths, though, and a few of them quietly began making arrangements to set their worldly affairs in order.

The other two surviving Nations were also panicking slightly at what had happened to the sun and sent the Fire Nation into a tizzy. There was actually an unofficial cease-fire for nearly a week at all the major battlefronts whilst everyone tried and failed to figure out what the ever-loving hell had just happened.

A small caravan of strange travelers had a bit more of an idea of what had happened, that being that Ghost had done something that probably qualified as grade A magical bullshit of the highest caliber, but they were still just as lost as everybody else on the details. They continued to slowly make their way across the Earth Kingdom on their journey to Senlin Village, Iroh praying to Agni every day that he’d find his nephew safe and sound. Strangely, Iroh felt as though someone was actually listening to his prayers now, but he wasn’t sure if that was entirely a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHA!! Im back on my bullshit, fckers, and there's nothing you can do to stop me! >:D the repercussions of ghosts hasty decisions are baffling the world yet again! my favorite! i love the smell of chaos in the morning! zuko's head has just exploded from all the massive truth bombs being dropped on him and ghost is having the time of their life! internet points to anyone who can spot my itty bitty star trek reference! next chapter we get back to the gaang to see what theyre up to and zuko's inner turmoil continues!


	18. Interlude: Senlin Village

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here, have some gaang perspective on upcoming events! we havent really seen what they're up to much, and ive decided that story bits that arent directly from zuko/ghosts point of view will come in the form of periodic interludes that hint at events you'll get to see next but from zuko and ghost's perspective. while the gaang has some idea of whats going on with zuko and ghost, they are also very wrong about some things and come to the wrong conclusions based on lack of info or misinterpreting things

While the Gaang had an...interesting time in Omashu, King Bumi, who turned out to be Aang’s old friend from a century ago, didn’t know anything about the spirits Zuko was working with. 

After that, they had stopped at a small mining village being oppressed by the Fire Nation. Katara couldn’t help but get involved and had come up with a ridiculous plan to get arrested and taken to the offshore prison rig to stage a revolt. Somehow, her plan had actually worked, with a little airbending assistance from Aang, and when the firebenders all started freaking out when the sun went all dim. 

The firebenders were terrified when that happened and they accused Aang of having done something to their firebending. There wasn’t actually much of a fight at all, after that. The firebenders all retreated and locked themselves in the admin’s office, using the high vantage point to yell down that the prisoners were all free to go, as long as the Avatar left the rig and stopped messing with the sun.

Although Aang had absolutely nothing to do with why the sun had gone dim and colder than normal, they used the opportunity to escape with the prisoners in tow, all without having to fight at all!

During all the chaos, Katara had lost her mother’s necklace, but it had been found and returned to her by a grateful Haru. They ferried all the Earth Kingdom prisoners back to the village using the Fire Nation boats that had brought them there in the first place, after Sokka had figured out how to work the strange contraptions that made them move without sails.

The sun had returned to normal once it began to set, but no one knew what had happened to it in the first place. The grateful villagers had given them supplies and a bit of money after they helped drive off the few remaining Fire Nation soldiers and they stayed the night in the comfortable inn. 

When they were traveling the next morning, they happened to fly above a massive forest that had been mostly burned down. They landed and were saddened at the sight of the forest burned to ash, no life or animals anywhere. Well, Aang and Katara were sad, Sokka was mostly just pissed at the Fire Nation for having no respect towards nature.

They were then approached by an old man who stated that he’d seen the flying bison and wanted to know if Aang was the Avatar. When Aang replied that he was, the man almost seemed exasperated and maybe slightly frustrated.

“Well, if you’re here to help with my village’s spirit problems, you’re too late. The problem’s already been resolved.”

“Wait, spirit problems? What do you mean?” Aang asked curiously. Although he knew that the Avatar was supposed to resolve spirit/human conflicts, he didn’t actually know much about spirits at all.

“Well, my village was being attacked by the spirit of this forest, Hei-Bai, who was angry that the Fire Nation burned it down a few weeks ago. It took its anger out on us, even though we did everything we could to save the forest and had dutifully made offerings to it for decades! Hmph! Fat lot of good that did us!” The man griped.

“Did it realize the fire wasn’t your fault and stop attacking your village?” Katara asked.

“No, of course not! It was just getting more aggressive the closer it got to the Winter Solstice, but then, something else crossed over from the spirit world and saved us!” The man said excitedly.

The Gaang, who had been following the man back to his village, gasped when they saw the damage to some of the buildings.

“The forest spirit did all that?!” Sokka yelled. “Those buildings are totally smashed!”

“Yes, the forest spirit had grown quite powerful over the years from our offerings, so it was capable of a lot of damage when it was angry. It was the size of a two-story house itself, but it looked like a tiny misbehaving puppy-kitten compared to the Black Spirit!” The man said with some amount of awe in his voice.

“The Black Spirit?” Aang parroted, curious.

“Yes! Just when we had lost hope that we would survive to see the following spring, a great tear in the world opened up and two more spirits came through while Hei-Bai was attacking us! They honestly looked shocked at the sight, I don’t think they meant to walk in on a battle like that!” The man took a calming breath before he continued. 

“There were two spirits, a larger one that was tall and thin with a blank, white face that had horns and a pitch black body, and another with a similar face and horns, but this one had red eyes that glowed and a strange ball of red fire above its head. It also had a strange marking around one eye, now that I think about it. Anyway, everyone is pretty sure the smaller red-eyed one was a fire spirit of some kind, because Hei-Bai went mad with rage after they spotted it! Hei-Bai smacked the smaller one into a building before it tried to squash the poor thing!”

“What happened then? Was the fire spirit killed?” Aang asked in concern, his endless compassion and empathy shining through.

“See, that’s the thing. Everyone in town agreed that the smaller one was important to the larger one somehow, maybe it was its child or something, because when Hei-Bai attacked the smaller red-eyed one, the larger spirit went absolutely crazy! It turned into a massive monster made from the shadows themselves! It had eight glowing white eyes and even more horns than before! It towered over the village and it made the most awful noise I’ve ever heard in my long life!” The man shivered as though he was cold. “I still get chills remembering it. It sounded like a thousand voices all shrieking at once!”

The Gaang all shared a look at that, this was beginning to sound familiar, and not in a good way. They also had a sinking suspicion about the identity of the so-called fire spirit. The man didn’t notice and continued his tale. 

“The Black Spirit was so mad at its child being attacked that it reached down with its massive claws and tore Hei-Bai apart! While there wasn’t any conventional gore, Hei-Bai bled light and tried to retreat back into the spirit world, but the Black Spirit didn’t let it. It was savage and terrifying to watch, and once it had killed Hei-Bai, we all feared the village was next! It didn’t attack us or destroy anything though, except when it tore apart the rubble of one of the houses searching for the smaller one. It shrank back down after that,” The man explained. 

The Gaang had a sudden realization that the massive spirit they first encountered at Zuko’s ship and the smaller one that killed the Unagi at Kyoshi were one and the same! They were all shocked, because they didn’t know spirits could shape-shift so dramatically. The man noticed their shocked expressions and continued on with the tale excitedly.

“I know, it’s certainly shocking isn’t it? It didn’t seem to care about any of us at all, only the little fire-spirit. It glowed with light and healed the smaller one. They just kind of sat there for a while, together on the ground. Eventually, one of the village children managed to escape the town hall where we were all taking shelter. The little tyke just ran up to them and thanked them for making Hei-Bai go away; bless him, he was too young to really understand what was going on. The lad’s mother was beside herself, thinking that her son was going to be killed or worse, but the Black Spirit just sort of patted his head and nudged him back towards us.”

“Really? They weren’t aggressive at all?” Sokka asked, ever the skeptic.

“No, that was the thing! The spirits got up and approached us, and the fire spirit asked if everyone was okay or if anyone needed medical attention! I didn’t even know spirits were capable of speech like that!” The man said. 

“When we cautiously said that some of the women who had been out doing laundry were injured when Hei-Bai appeared that night, they offered to heal the women! We were skeptical of course, and we asked what they wanted in exchange.”

“Turns out they were lost! They asked for a map of the region and shelter for the night! We said that they could stay in the village inn, since no one else was using it, but we asked why they didn’t return to the spirit world if they were lost, since spirits are supposed to live in the spirit world anyway, right? They were sort of cagey about answering that one, but eventually confessed that they actually spent most of their time in the physical realm, traveling around the world. They were pretty much tourists!” The man laughed.

“That’s...odd,” Aang said. “Spirits can’t survive for very long in the physical realm, they need the energy from the spirit world to stay alive. The only reason Hei-Bai was able to attack you is because of the upcoming Solstice, when the physical realm and the spirit world are closer to each other than usual.”

“Bah, what does it matter? They were clearly powerful spirits, or at least the Black Spirit was. It tore Hei-Bai apart like it was nothing! And besides, maybe it had something to do with the way the sun went all wonky last week. That sure scared the tar out of everyone!” The man laughed again.

The Gaang all shared a grimace when they remembered the absolute insanity that had caused on the prison rig. They still didn’t know what was up with that whole mess.

“What happened after that?” Katara asked the man.

“Well, they healed the women just like they said they would, and it was fascinating to watch. They both glowed white and when they held the women’s hands, all their wounds just closed up before our very eyes! The spirits seemed tired after that, the smaller one especially, so we showed them to the inn where they spent the night. The next morning, the women that they’d healed made them small offerings of food and some trinkets we make out of beads here, it's sort of a village specialty, you see. They were very polite and accepted the offerings graciously,” The man paused before he continued again. 

“One of the women asked what they were called, and the smaller one told us that while spirits never gave out their True Names except to those they trusted implicitly, titles were fine. One of the women came up with the idea to call the larger one the Black Spirit and the firey one the Scarlet Spirit. They both seemed pleased with the idea, so that’s what we went with. We presented them with the promised map and they studied it for a while and talked in this strange language with each other. It was very off-putting to hear, all chittering and hissing, but the smaller one thanked us again for our hospitality, before they both sprouted wings and flew off!” The man finished, sounding amazed.

“They were very beautiful - the wings that is. They each had six and they shone a silvery white in the sun. They were quite fast in the air and after they were gone, the village decided to change the shrine. Hei-Bai was gone after all, and it attacked us when we hadn’t done anything wrong! We figured we might as well put the shrine to good use, so it’s dedicated to the both of them now. One of the women they saved has a bit of an artistic streak, and she just finished making an ink portrait of the two to put in the shrine this morning. Would you like to see it?” The man asked.

“Sure!” Aang said. Any information on the now-named Black Spirit would be good, and he also wanted to confirm his suspicions about the Scarlet Spirit as well. He hoped he was wrong, but the situation was looking more and more grim the more he learned.

* * *

The Gaang was soon led to the shrine near the edge of the village. There were a few candles scattered about, some lit and some not. There were small offerings of fruit and other interesting trinkets, but there, at the back of the shrine, was the picture of the spirits. It was a rather simplistic drawing done in ink, but it was no less elegant for it. The woman had quite a bit of talent, Aang thought.

There was the Black Spirit’s face done in ink, and towering behind it was its larger, shadowy form. Beside it was the so-called Scarlet Spirit. Just like the man had described to them earlier, it looked very similar to the Black Spirit. The horns had the same general shape and the shape of the eyes was similar as well. There was a small ball of fire that hovered above its head, in between the horns. It had dark markings down its face starting from below the eyes like tear tracks, but what really made Aang’s blood run cold was the marking around the drawing’s left eye. That marking looked just like Zuko’s scar. Aang's stomach dropped to his feet as he realized what that meant.  


Zuko had been turned into a spirit.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how bout that, eh? keep in mind that this series of events takes place over multiple days. I tried to make the timelines match up by mentioning the sun-thing. as for zuko's new appearance, thats next chapter! I'm shaking things up by starting zuko's stint as a vigilante much earlier, due to his massively conflicting feelings about the war. hes not quite sure what he wants anymore, and ghost and zuko have a big convo about that in the next chappie, so stay tuned!


	19. You Will Be Loved, Resistance Is Futile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chappie ive ever written, which is why it took a couple of days. I also made myself cry while writing it, again, but for good reasons. Now that Ghost knows Zuko is actually family, they're a lot freer with their affections. they were totally restraining themselves before so they didnt weird zuko out. ghost isnt letting zuko believe he has to earn love from anyone one second longer than necessary, so they take care of that real quick. while it may seem a bit fast-paced to some people, remember that they've been sailing together on the wani for weeks now. I know that the whole AtLA story is supposed to take place over like less than a year, but in my story they've got a bit more time, cause sailing takes a long time to get places, so it always seemed a bit unrealistic that zuko's boat could ever keep up with appa, who was essentially a slow airplane, for any length of time. enjoy getting sucker punched in the feels! :)

Zuko awoke abruptly, his inner flame moved with a strange new pattern in his chest. It beat alongside his thundering heart and Zuko was confused for approximately two seconds before the memories of last night came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks.

He shot upright, or at least, he tried to. There was a strong chitinous arm slung around his middle. When he tried to extricate himself gently, the arm simply tightened. He kept trying to escape when Ghost’s mental voice called out to him gently.

**No, not yet. Just let me hold you for a few moments more, Dear Heart.**

Zuko froze at the loving tone and the new title. He was terribly confused. No one had talked to him like that since his mother had disappeared. The new nickname confused him as well.

“What did you call me?” He asked quietly. Ghost let them go at that point. They sat up and faced him. Zuko sat up and turned to them as well. Ghost sat cross-legged in the nest and took Zuko’s hands in their lower pair. They were staring very intently at him and Zuko swallowed a lump in his throat. New, or perhaps long forgotten feelings swelled up in his chest. He wasn’t quite sure how to identify them.

**Dear Heart? I could not simply call you ‘Friend’ after yesterday. Before, you were special to me and I cared for you because we were friends. You treated me with kindness and respect, even when all others flinched away in fear of me. Now, we are family, distant family perhaps, but family all the same.**

**They say that you cannot choose your family, and there is some truth to that, but perhaps it is not entirely accurate. Blood can be a strong connector or an unbreakable bond, but it can divide and destroy just as easily. A person must choose which they desire.**

**I have seen a possible future, your future, and while some would say it ends well for you, you endure countless hardships, betrayals, and suffer most of it alone to get there. I know your past, Dear Heart, and it is not a happy one. While even I cannot change the past, I can alter the future. Anyone can.**

**The future I saw for you is no longer accurate. I saw an opportunity to change your future, for nothing is ever set in stone, and I took it. Your tale was a sad one, and I sought to make it even the smallest bit easier for you. You deserved so much more than what you got, Dear Heart. You were but a child, you still are, no matter how much you may protest otherwise. All children deserve love and care, unconditionally. No strings attached, no having to earn it.**

Ghost’s thumb gently stroked just beneath the lowest edge of his scar. Zuko tried not to flinch back, but he had a feeling something must have shown on his face, because Ghost’s hand gently left his face, and they looked even sadder and more upset.

**Love you have to earn is not love at all. Do you know what I see when I look at it?**

Zuko knew they were referring to his mark of shame, and he turned his head to the left so they wouldn’t have to look at it. Nobody ever wanted to look at it. It was ugly and shameful.

Ghost’s hand gently grasped his chin and turned his head back so they could look him in the eyes.

**I see the mark of a boy whose heart was so full of love for his fellow man that he couldn’t allow their lives to be thrown away by the hands of those meant to protect them. I see the mark of a boy who refused to raise his hands against the one he loved above all others, even in his own defense. I see a mark of honor and bravery, of a survivor, because you stood up for what was right.**

**You did not deserve to be burned for showing compassion. You did not deserve to be sent away on a quest doomed to failure. You didn’t deserve any of it, not a single bit. You did nothing wrong.**

“Yes I did! I was disrespectful a-and, a-and…!” Zuko knew he was crying at this point but he didn’t care. Ghost had to be lying. They had to be, because if they weren’t, then that meant that father...that father…

Ghost wiped away his tears with a gentle hand. 

**Those are not the actions of a loving father. A loving father loves unconditionally, a loving father cherishes and protects his children, a loving father would die for his children, so that they might live.**

**A loving father does not burn his own son, no matter how angry he might be at them.**

Zuko couldn’t take it anymore. “Shut up, shut UP! Father l-loves me, he does! O-once I capture t-the A-avatar, he’ll...he’ll…!” 

Zuko couldn’t make the words come out anymore, he was crying too hard. The words were bitter on his tongue. Deep down, Zuko knew Ghost was right. He’d been lying to himself for so long, he’d begun to believe it, because if he didn’t, then that meant confronting the truth, and the truth was too painful to bear.

Ghost enveloped them in a gentle hug. Zuko tried to push them away, but he didn’t have the strength. Ghost slowly rocked him back and forth where they were seated on the ground. They started humming a soft, wordless tune and rubbed his back as he sobbed. Zuko let himself be held as his world shattered around him.

* * *

It took him a long time to calm down again, a few hours at least. Ghost had not stopped humming or rocking him, and Zuko was too emotionally exhausted to protest.

**You asked me why I called you Dear Heart. I call you that because you are precious and irreplaceable. You are dear to me and I hold you in my heart with love. You will always be there. You may choose to reject me, to run away from me, but I will never stop loving you. You may go over valleys and sail across the seas, but that fact will never change.**

Zuko would cry if he still had any tears left. 

**I will support you in whatever you desire. If you still wish to capture the Avatar, I will help you. If you wish to change your name and run away to Ba Sing Se to work in a tea shop, I will help you then, too.**

“But why? Why do you care so much?!”

**Because you are my family, and I choose to love you, and to cherish you, and to protect you. I will fight for you with every ounce of strength that I have, because you are worth it, Zuko. I love you dearly. Never doubt that.**

A strange mental pressure built in his head. It felt like when he first met Ghost and he could feel their emotions in his head, but much more intense. A deafening cacophony of  **[LOVELOVELOVE]** screamed in his mind. Tears he didn’t know he still had in him streamed down his face anew. 

It was one thing for someone to tell you they loved you. It was one thing for someone to tell you they loved you and you believed them. It was a completely different thing for someone to tell you they loved you and you could literally feel that love being poured out into your head.

Ghost held them, and for once, Zuko leaned into it, unashamed.

* * *

Zuko had calmed down again and had a brief nap, because he was completely emotionally drained. When he awoke, he felt like the world had shifted three feet to the left and refused to go back to the way it was. He felt like a different person entirely. 

Ghost had gone back to the Southern Air Temple to gather food. They brought back fruit and a dead mountain goat-deer. Although Zuko had been slightly disgusted at first when Ghost insisted on teaching them how to clean and dress a kill, he relented once Ghost had pointed out that they would probably need to travel a fair ways to find Iroh and with their appearances, they couldn't exactly just waltz into town to purchase goods.

While Zuko could just remove the First Flame and have Ghost store it in their fluff, his eyes were a different story. Zuko was simply too emotional of a person to maintain the level of calm needed to get the glow to go away for any significant length of time. It would constantly flare up for split-seconds with his train of thought and no amount of meditation seemed to help. 

When he got too frustrated to meditate, Ghost showed them how to use the various magical artifacts the pair had recovered from the Abyss. Isma’s Tear turned out to be fine for human consumption after Ghost tested small bits of the fruit on various animals. Zuko ate it, and while it was sour, he didn’t feel any different from before, so neither of them knew if it had actually done anything at all, so that had been a bit of a letdown. The Crystal Heart was a literal blast to use though, and Ghost mentioned the possibility of using it to power large machinery. 

Apparently, that’s what it was actually used for back when Hallownest was still around. Crystal Hearts were manufactured to power large mining golems, and Ghost was curious to see if it could power the  _ Wani _ as well. 

Zuko told them that if anyone could figure out how to make a magic artifact work with machinery, it would be the twins. They were mad geniuses when it came to experimentations involving machinery. It was how they got demoted from the Navy and stuck with the  _ Wani’s _ crew in the first place, after all. 

While the method they had discovered was now standard in all Fire Nation ship engine designs, because they had made the modifications to their ship’s engine without prior authorization, they had been punished by being forced to join Zuko’s crew. The  _ Wani’s _ engine constantly broke down due to its age, and their prowess had saved Zuko so much time and money in maintenance and repairs that he couldn’t even be that mad when some of their experiments inevitably blew up in their faces.

Out of the three main artifacts Ghost had given him, Zuko liked the Shade Cloak the best. The way his body temporarily became a mass of intangible shadows was very odd at first, but he got used to it quickly. Dashing around in bursts was a lot of fun, and had countless combat applications. Zuko dearly wished he had a set of Dual-Dao swords with him to test out all his ideas.

Ghost lamented that the Pure Nail they had was much too small for either of them to use effectively. For Zuko it was the size of a large dagger, or perhaps a small shortsword, neither of which he knew how to use. For Ghost though, the thing might as well have been a letter-opener.

The charms were interesting to try out, although some Ghost refused to let them touch, stating that they might react catastrophically with his physiology. Zuko thought Ghost might have been overreacting, but after they explained in excruciating detail how a charm called ‘Glowing Womb’ worked, Zuko was never touching any of them without Ghost saying it was okay first. He still shuddered thinking about it.

* * *

They spent the next day in the Dream Realm exploring the immediate area around their new lair that Ghost had decided to call ‘The Burrow’, and they eventually decided to visit Agni’s own little corner of the Dream Realm.

Agni had given them directions to find His lair before He’d left after the long conversation from a few days ago. While it was a bit of a trek, it was far closer than Zuko or Ghost had been expecting.

They traveled via flight, and Ghost showed Zuko how to do a few aerial tricks along the way. Ghost praised them whenever they got something right, and gently encouraged him when he failed. It was much different from being taught by his tutors back at the palace, and even Uncle had never been so free with his praise. Their encouragement made something in Zuko unclench, just a bit.

* * *

They soon arrived at Agni’s section of the Dream Realm and Zuko could feel something about the air shift when he crossed the threshold. It felt more active, fresher maybe. Agni greeted them at the door and ushered them inside.

Agni’s home was much humbler than Zuko had expected. It wasn’t small, exactly, but it was cozy and warm, and it felt lived in. The floors were dark brown wood and covered in colorful rugs. The walls were a soft golden color and there were many windows which let in an omnipresent light. It had no identifiable source that Zuko could tell. All the furniture was unusually tall, but Zuko supposed that made sense, what with Agni being almost nine feet tall.

“Would either of you care for some Bloodwine? I recently got in an especially fine vintage after I won that bet with Tui,” He said with a small smirk.

**Ooh! Yes, that would be lovely! I haven’t had any since I Ascended!**

“Uh...what’s Bloodwine? It’s not made from actual blood, is it?” Zuko asked with concern.

“Oh goodness, no! It’s a somewhat gruesome name, I’ll admit, but no, it's made from Lifeblood. No actual blood from a living being, I assure you,” Agni replied, amused

“Oh, well in that case, I guess I’ll try some. I’m assuming it’s alcoholic?” Zuko asked.

“Only mildly. There are other varieties that can knock even a Higher Being on their backs, but I wouldn’t serve that to guests! At least, not guests I like,” Agni admitted with a sly grin. They all shared a small laugh at that, and Agni left to go fetch the refreshments. He soon returned and Zuko got his first taste of Bloodwine. It was much different than any other alcohol he’d managed to sneak by Uncle’s watchful eye.

It glowed a bright blue like Lifeblood did, and it tasted like a slightly sour fruit juice. Zuko couldn’t detect the alcohol at all. He made sure to only have the one, since he wasn’t sure how well his body would handle the strange drink.

Ghost and Agni talked a bit more about the past, occasionally including Zuko on more relevant topics before they finally moved on to talking about Zuko and Ghost’s current situation of being separated from the  _ Wani _ and Zuko’s developing abilities.

“Well now, I may be able to help with your burgeoning affinity for Nightmare Flame!” Agni said.

“Really?”

“Yes, I kept everything from father’s old caravan, including the stone journals he wrote to help new troupe members master their powers. He was very busy after all, so he didn’t always have time to personally instruct every new member. I also have a small case of charms that Divine crafted over the years. You should have those as well, they just gather dust in my storage rooms.” Agni said before getting up from the table and motioning for His guests to follow.

He led them down a long hallway before opening a narrow door a ways down. He ushered them inside and Zuko saw that the room was radically different from the rest of the house. It looked like the inside of a massive, red circus tent.

**Oh...it looks just like…**

“Yes, I tried to recreate the Grimm Troupe tents as best I could from memory. I assume I did a good job?” Agni asked Ghost softly.

**The best.**

Ghost looked wistful as they gazed around the slightly cluttered storage room. Agni vanished behind a stack of boxes and soon re-emerged carrying a tall stack of crates. He set them down and beckoned Zuko forwards. He pointed out a rather large collection of small stone tablets.

“These are the journals. You activate them by channeling a bit of Soul and a small Soul-lattice will relay the information both visually and audibly. Father designed them that way so that anyone could use them no matter the language they read in or spoke. Every kingdom had a slightly different writing system, although speech stayed fairly universal, with a few exceptions of course. Hallownest was one of the few that had a completely unique language not found anywhere else. The Pale King just had to make his kingdom extra-special, I guess.”

**He was an egocentric prick like that.**

Came Ghost’s deadpan explanation.

“I suppose you would know best of all, mother,” Agni said darkly. “Almost wish he wasn’t dead, just so I could kill him myself.”

**Seconded. Only found his corpse in the dream-shell of the White Palace. Stabbing someone that was already dead wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I’d hoped. I did shove his body off the throne so I could sit in it out of spite.**

Zuko didn’t quite know how to respond to the sheer amount of vitriol Ghost talked about their own father with, so he chose to ignore it and tried to distract the brooding pair of gods.

“Hey, uh...why’s this journal look all weird?” Zuko said, fishing out a tablet that looked more like a box than anything.

“Because that’s not a journal, that’s a music box. How’d that find its way in there?” Agni asked, eyeing the box.

Zuko curiously sent some Soul into it to see what would happen, and a small red image of Grimm appeared above the surface of the box, seemingly made out of light. The image of Grimm began to sway slightly and his deep, raspy voice cut through the air, singing softly.

Ghost looked at once delighted and devastated. Tears of Void gathered in the corners of Ghost's eye holes, but they didn't let the tears fall. 

Zuko couldn’t understand the clicking, hissing language that Grimm was singing in, but his voice was full of emotion. The song came to a close after a few minutes and the image of Grimm faded away.

“What was the song about? I didn’t understand it,” Zuko said, hoping someone would fill him in.

“It was a love song father wrote for mother shortly before he sacrificed himself for me,” Grimm said softly. “You should have that, mother. It’s the least I can do.” Agni gently grabbed the music box from Zuko’s hands before giving it to Ghost, who held it like it was made of spun glass and not solid stone.

“...What do you mean he sacrificed himself?” Zuko asked. 

“When I was born, my heritage meant I was connected to the Nightmare Heart like father was. Father was a belief-born Higher Being, and was never meant to have children. The Heart couldn't handle the strain of two connections at once, especially from one who was young and still growing. One of the connections had to be cut for the other to remain, but father was tied intrinsically to the heart and couldn’t just sever the connection himself. Cutting my own connection to it would have meant my instantaneous death. I was much too young to survive without it. A Higher Being can be killed by another Higher Being in combat, or choose to fade away voluntarily if they were born from belief like father was, but fading takes decades at the least, and the Heart wouldn’t survive that long. Father chose to die in ritual combat with mother so that I could live.”

“Oh, I’m  _ so _ sorry for asking, I didn’t mean--”

“It’s fine. You didn’t know and it’s in the past. Father made his choice willingly. After I grew up a bit, I discovered that he had made journals just for me. Silly things, like him reading out bedtime stories for me to listen to later, and instructions regarding how to maintain the Nightmare Heart on my own, as well as a couple that were nothing but recordings of terrible dad-jokes! For mother, he left music boxes and recordings of them dancing together, for that was their favorite thing to do. Father truly loved us, and wished things could have been different, but he never once said he regretted my birth or resented me for it.”

“Oh…” Zuko didn’t quite know how to feel about that. His own father had said he was lucky to be born straight to his face on multiple occasions. He supposed he should have seen the signs that father didn’t love him sooner, but denial was a powerful thing.

* * *

As it turned out, Agni had lots of old artifacts from Hallownest. He and Hornet and Hollow had combed through the kingdom’s corpse, taking anything and everything they thought would ever come in handy. They stored it all in the Dream Realm easily, with help from Agni’s Dream powers twisting and distorting space inside of itself to make an impossibly large room. 

Ghost had been amazed at the ingenuity of making a pocket-space as a room and had declared it Agni’s ‘Room of Requirement’. Both Zuko and Agni didn’t know why that was so amusing to them, but sometimes Ghost was just odd like that. Agni soaked up his mother’s praise like a flower to the sun, ironically enough. Zuko understood that feeling much better now.

They had been left to their own devices exploring the room, since Agni had needed to tend to the sun. Ghost and Zuko wandered a bit aimlessly through the mountains of stuff, occasionally stopping to examine odds and ends. There were many tall spools of some kind of silk, a collection of small stone tablets in a language Zuko couldn't read, map-making supplies, furniture of all different shapes and sizes, and many strange dark idols that hummed with stored Soul.

Ghost had become enthralled reading something written on a small stone journal they had found buried under a pile of half-finished masks.

**Dear Heart, come here! I have found something that might help us!**

“What is it?”

**Well, I have been concerned about how we were to travel through the Earth Kingdom without your identity being discovered. Unfortunately, you have very recognizable features, and Earth Kingdom soldiers might get wind of you while we travel, which would be bad. In the future that no longer is, some patrolling soldiers encountered Iroh while he was relaxing in some hot springs, and you only managed to come to his rescue mere moments before his hands were going to be crushed under a boulder to prevent him from firebending ever again.**

Zuko looked a bit stricken at that announcement. “‘The future that no longer is’? What does that mean?”

**When I dreamed of the future as I slept, it showed me a version of the future where you never found the Abyss. I wasn’t a part of your life and events played out much differently than they have. While some of the more factual knowledge I learned remains the same, certain events may never come to pass, and different events I have not foreseen may occur. In that future, when your father discovered that you were no longer actively hunting the Avatar, he sent Azula to trick you into coming home where he planned to imprison you. When you discovered the deception and escaped, he declared you and Iroh traitors to the Fire Nation and placed bounties on your heads. It might not be safe for your identity to be known as we travel.**

“He did all that?” Zuko asked sadly.

**Yes. He is a cruel man, Dear Heart, and I’m sorry you had to suffer under his ‘care’. Anyways, I found a potential solution.**

“What’s that?” Zuko asked, eager to move on with the conversation. His feelings about his father and sister were very complicated at the moment, even though Zuko had given up on trying to earn fathers love. He wasn’t quite sure how to feel about Azula at the present moment, either.

**In Hallownest, there was a strange being known as ‘The Mask Maker’. They made masks for the bugs of Hallownest that had no true faces of their own. They were imbued with magic and eventually came to become a part of the wearer, essentially giving the bug a face to call their own. They could change with the wearer as well, becoming the truest reflection of the wearer. These are their journals on how they made the masks! I could take one of the blocks of raw enchanted shellwood and make you a mask! It would hide your true face and know one would even think to connect your new appearance to the old one. You have experienced a lot of changes in a very short period, Dear Heart, so I understand if you do not wish to, but--**

“No, that sounds fine! Not being Zuko for a while sounds like a nice break from everything. I’d be able to take it off though? It’s just a mask right?”

**According to this, yes. Most bugs rarely ever bared their faces to anyone, even family. For all intents and purposes, the mask WAS their face, but it was still just a mask, and they could be removed at will. Depending on how it was designed, it could even change other features about a bug. Give them extra eyes or change the way their voice sounded or even change the structure of the mouth and throat, allowing a previously mute bug to talk. I could make you one with features like that, and people would just think you a spirit. I would think that a pair of spirits travelling together would be less suspicious than a spirit traveling with a random human teen, yes?**

“I guess? Spirits are pretty rare to encounter in the mortal realm, but I guess one traveling together with a human would draw more attention.”

**Then it’s settled! I’ll make you a mask and we can get started on our journey to find the _Wani!_ Do you have any preferences on how it looks?**

Zuko hemmed and hawed over his answer before working up the courage to say what he wanted. “Could...could you make it look kinda like yours and Agni’s?”

Ghost was a bit shocked at the request, but then their heart swelled with love and understanding.

**Of course, Dear Heart, it would be my honor. It might change its appearance a little once you put it on, but it shouldn’t change too much from its base form. I’ll get right to work. Perhaps while you wait for me to finish it, you could look around and see if you can find any Nails? The roads can be dangerous, and while I’ve taught you a fair bit of combat magic so far, a melee weapon is never a bad idea. Soul is finite, after all.**

“Okay, I’ll try and find some. You’ll have to come with me once I do though, I can’t be sure what size sword you’ll be comfortable using.”

**Sounds good to me. Now, I’m going to get started and it’s important that you don’t interrupt me once I’ve started. It’s delicate work and I’d hate to mess it up.**

Zuko simply nodded and went off to search for replacement swords.

* * *

Agni had come back to check on them after a few hours. Zuko had found a very small collection of Nails. Most looked much too old or cracked to be of much use, but there were two that seemed to be in much better condition. One was taller than Zuko was and the other was much smaller, but had an odd loop on the end of the handle.

Ghost was still working on Zuko’s mask so Agni spent some time with Zuko explaining the different types of weapons used in Hallownest.

“Why’s that Nail got a big loop on the handle?” Zuko asked.

“Ah...that type of Nail is actually a Needle. That one used to be Auntie Hornet’s. She would spin Soul-Silk around the loop and she could almost fly by launching her Needle and rapidly reabsorbing the Soul-Silk to pull herself along. She was an amazing fighter and absolutely lethal with her Needle in close combat. Although she acted like an emotionless warrior around strangers, she was quite different around family and those she trusted.”

“She sounds like an amazing person.”

“She was. She managed to take care of both me and Hollow by herself before I grew old enough to look after myself, and Hollow before they learned how to think for themselves enough to live on their own.”

“What does that mean? Were they sick or something?”

“In a manner of speaking. The Pale King had intended for the Vessels to be completely empty. None of the Vessels were, though. Though they were touched and re-made by the Void, they were still living creatures with thoughts and feelings like any other sapient being. Hollow was never truly empty either, but they were a good enough actor to fool that bastard into thinking they were. They spent a majority of their life denying that they ever had emotions or were capable of independent thought, and then spent uncountable years imprisoned in the Temple of the Black Egg, trying and failing to contain the Old Light in their mind.” Agni took a breath before continuing.

“They were the only one to survive the climb and face the Pale King without being killed and thrown back into the Abyss. Though lots of Vessels managed the climb to the top, if they showed emotion in front of the Pale King, he deemed them a failure and killed them before he threw their bodies back down into the pit. Vessels are sturdy, and don’t take damage from falling long distances. Ghost’s innumerable siblings were already dead before they hit the ground.” Agni explained morbidly.

“Sweet gods,” Zuko felt sick. He understood Ghost’s resentment toward their father a bit better now. He had seen the Abyss. There were so many tiny bodies. How many siblings had Ghost even had? There must have been thousands. How could a single pair of creatures produce so many offspring?

“There must have been thousands of them…” Zuko said quietly.

“Just over ten-thousand,” Agni confirmed. “Ghost told me once that they had counted each and every one of them before they managed to escape the Abyss on their own. They were trapped down there for a long time. They vowed to avenge every single tiny life cut down before they ever had the chance to live. It was part of the reason why they were so determined to save anybody left alive when they returned to Hallownest.”

Agni and Zuko sat in silence for a small while before Ghost’s delighted mental voice caught their attention.

**Dear Heart, I have finished your mask! Where are you?**

“Over here!” Zuko called out. He tried not to blush too hard at the fond look Agni sent his way.

“They’ve named you! Now you’ll never escape them! They’ve basically adopted you!” Agni laughed.

Zuko tried to ignore the way his heart swelled with hope at the thought. 

Ghost soon found the pair by the broken Nail pile. They only spared a small glance toward the broken weapons before they seemed sad at the sight of the pristine Needle and much larger Nail. They shook themselves and eagerly held out the mask for Zuko to take.

It was similar to Agni and Ghost’s masks, but the horns were slightly more angular and had a couple more prongs coming off the sides of them. There was only a single set of relatively large eye holes, a fact which Zuko appreciated.

**I wove a bit of transformative magic into it. It will disguise your voice slightly because it will change your mouth and throat slightly. I thought you might want to learn to speak High Paleian. A human throat isn’t capable of making certain noises necessary to speak it. Not that you have to learn if you don’t want to! If you don’t like it I can change it!**

“No, no! That sounds fine. Having a secret language for just the three of us sounds like fun, and would add to the disguise,” Zuko reassured them. They had put a lot of work into the mask, he could tell. He could almost feel the care and love put into each smooth slope and sharp curve. “How do I put it on? There’s no straps,” He asked.

**No straps are needed! It will stick to your face and after the magic has settled, it will basically be your face. You won’t be looking out of eyeholes, you’ll just be looking out of your eyes. Don’t worry, though, you can take it off and everything will go back to normal! Just like the other artifacts, it can be removed at will.**

“Alright. So, I just press it to my face and the magic does the rest?”

**Yes. The appearance of it might change slightly as your mind imposes more personal details, but the shape should stay pretty much the same.**

Zuko nodded before flipping the mask over. It felt less like painted wood in his clawed hands and more like bone. He tried to not feel too unsettled by its empty gaze. 

On the inside surface of the mask, Zuko saw many complicated-looking symbols carved into the interior side. They pulsed with Soul and lit up slightly when he touched them. 

He took a deep breath and held the slightly warm surface of the mask to his face. Zuko could feel the magic wrap around his head and neck. It only lasted for a few seconds, and then he could feel his hands directly on his face again, but his fingers told him he was touching solid, smooth bone and not skin. His entire head was different and his jaw felt strange too. Having horns felt weird. How did neither of the others get them caught on everything?

He opened his eyes, and found that Ghost was right. He couldn’t see the edges of the mask at all, it was he wasn’t even wearing it.

Ghost retrieved the mirror they had crafted some days ago out of their pocket-space so he sould see himself. 

It was less like he was wearing a mask, and more like his entire head had transformed to resemble Ghost’s or Agni’s; slightly angled forward and with horns. His neck was covered in smooth black plates that stopped just above his collar bones, too. The shape of the mask had stayed the same, but it had gained thick dark lines around the eyes that then trailed down like tear tracks, like Agni and Grimm had. His eyes were also a solid red like theirs were. He was dismayed to see that his scar had followed him even to this new face. 

It was now just a large red marking and it didn’t actually change the texture of the mask itself when he raised a hand to feel it. To his surprise he could actually feel his hand touching his new face just below his left eye. His scar was completely numb after it had finished healing, and he only ever felt a very vague pressure when he touched it usually. His left eye was also no longer squinted. He had a full field of vision again, for the first time in over three years.

The scar was honestly less like a scar and more like a simple discoloration, like a spot on a cat-dog’s face.

Ghost noticed him staring at it.

**Dear Heart, remember what I said. It is not a mark of shame, but one of bravery and honor, for you were unjustly punished for defending those that were not there to defend themselves. The one who gave it to you should be ashamed, not you. Never you. Not for this.**

He opened his mouth to say something in response, but was distracted when he noticed that he had new appendages on each side of his mouth. It felt strange to move them around, but it wasn’t too bad. He found that they rested gently across the seam of his closed mouth when he wasn’t actively controlling them, like Ghost’s did. He moved his tongue around in his mouth and felt that his teeth were different too. 

The number of them hadn’t changed, but they had definitely taken a distinctly predatory leaning. Most of his teeth could probably qualify as fangs now, but he felt that he still had molars in the back of his mouth, so he could probably still eat all the same stuff as before. His mouth was located just below the edge of where the mask pointed like a chin, so it appeared almost as if he had a bit of a snout now, like Ghost. 

He was mostly just surprised it took him that long to notice. His new mouth felt entirely natural, like he’d had it his whole life. 

**Dear Heart, you look so handsome! How does it feel?**

He felt like he should have flushed at the complement, but the white surface of his new face didn’t change at all. Nice to know that no one could tell when he was embarrassed now.

“Thiss iss a bit sstrange…but not in a bad way,” He said. He noticed that he seemed to have a bit of an accent. His vocal cords had changed as well, it seemed, and he hissed a bit when he talked now.

“Go on, give us a smile!” Agni encouraged, spreading his chelicerae away from his mouth and showing all his fangs off in what looked more like a threat display than a smile.

Zuko attempted to copy him, and found that his new dentition and appendages also achieved the same results. Though nothing about the visible texture changed, Zuko could feel that the portion of the mask around his mouth was still mobile, like Agni’s, so it was almost like he still had lips, except not really. It was very difficult to describe accurately. 

He blinked and squinted his eyes, and found that he still could, so his face wasn’t entirely immobile like Ghost’s was, but when he wasn’t actively making an expression, his face looked eerily blank.

Overall, while it was a bit weird at first and would probably take a bit of getting used to, Zuko found that he liked looking more like Ghost and Agni. It made him feel like he fit in better. He didn’t stand out as much as the only human member of the strange trio. 

He looked like he was actually related to them now, and Zuko secretly reveled in the feelings of family and belonging he felt. He decided to keep the mask on for the time being, but he wanted to know what it felt like to remove it as well.

“It’s less like a mask now and more like I got a new head!” Zuko exclaimed with mild worry. “Out of curiosity, how do I take it off?”

**Just grab at the base of the horns and pull gently forwards, while thinking that you want to take it off. It might take a couple of seconds for the magic to release, but then it will pop off just fine.**

Zuko did as instructed and was a tiny bit relieved when it came off just fine. It was reassuring to know he could go back to looking human if he needed or wanted to. He felt oddly bereft without it on, even though he’d only worn it for, like, five minutes. 

He figured that there was just something freeing about being able to put on a mask and pretend he was someone else for a bit, though he would never forget his past or who he was. He put the mask back on and turned back to Ghost.

Ghost put away the mirror and drew Zuko into a hug, dragging Agni into it as well. 

**Such handsome boys. I love you both so much! I’m so happy...my baby’s alive and I have such a lovely grandbaby now as well!**

“Yes, mother, I love you very much as well,” Agni said with fond exasperation. He gently extricated himself from the hug, leaving Zuko to fend for himself. He sent Agni a look of mock betrayal while he was busy being snuggled to death by a sentimental Ghost. Agni looked completely unrepentant.

* * *

After finishing up the visit to Agni’s home, the pair returned to the Burrow with their new treasures. They began sorting everything and putting things away in new nooks and shelves Ghost carved into the cavern walls. Zuko had kept the mask on, in order to get used to it, but he couldn’t stop thinking about something.

“Ghosst?”

**Yes, Dear Heart?**

“I’ve been thinking about what you ssaid to me, about family and sstuff…” He started hesitantly. “It feelss weird to just call you ‘Ghosst’, when you give me all ssortss of nicknamess and call me your...grandsson.”

Zuko refused to refer to himself as a ‘grandbaby’. While he had blubbered all over them like a small child a few days ago when they told him they loved him no matter what, he still had some small shred of dignity left, damn it!

“Would it be okay if I...called you Nana?” Zuko was doubly glad his new face couldn’t blush, because he had a feeling he’d be lit up brighter than the First Flame right now.

Ghost was silent for a couple of seconds and Zuko began to worry that he’d just messed something up again, like always, when Ghost wrapped him up in their arms. Their mental voice was wobbly with emotion.

**Nothing would make me happier, Dear Heart. I would be honored. Thank you.**

Zuko relaxed into the gentle hug and tried not to cry. He’s pretty sure he failed, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nana Ghost is here to make everything better! every other sub-par parental figure that zuko's ever had to deal with better get their asses in line or stay the fuck away, because Ghost totally called dibs and will absolutely throw hands at bitches who disrespect their grandbaby. people who threaten him better get their worldly affairs in order, b/c nana ghost is not fucking around. Zuko's had his entire worldview totally shattered and then they have someone who is telling them they love him unconditionally right tf there, so zuko latched on to that real quick. zuko's meter for weird/eldritch horror is so skewed it might as well not even exist. Hes just enjoying finally getting to feel what having a loving family member is all about, and he'd do just about anything to keep it that way. while he still wants to reunite with the others, its suddenly less immediately pressing, so they gonna spend some quality time with their new nana in the dream realm learning how to be a good little eldritch horror right alongside them! get ready for that, cause its coming! *cackles manically >:D*


	20. The Senlin Village Debacle, Or: How to Start a Religion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy zuko and ghost's perspective on the senlin village debacle! also zuko receiving eldritch-being lessons from nana! He's learning how to be properly terrifying, all by complete accident! my favorite! :)

Zuko spent the next few days learning more about combat magic and how his new powers integrated with his firebending. He sparred with his new Nana often, and they started teaching him how to read and write High Paleian. Zuko was fascinated by the ancient language.

He was a bit of a sucker for language and writing anyway. His mother had introduced him to the idea of theater as a child, and he’d never outgrown his love for it. High Paleian was a much different language compared to his native tongue. For one, it used a completely different set of sounds that couldn’t be made by a human throat. 

He’d had great fun exploring his newly expanded vocal range. While he could still make all the same sounds from before with only a tiny bit more difficulty, the more animalistic sounds felt much more natural to make with his new mouth.

Nana had taught him how to whistle without lips, chirp, chitter, hiss and much more. His new chelicerae were a bit unruly at first, but he soon came to master them. Turns out, in a race that didn’t have very expressive faces, other methods had to be used to communicate emotions non-verbally. The positioning of chelicerae was an important one, as well as body language and the positioning and movement of wings, if a bug had them.

Speaking of wings, Nana had started keeping their wings out all the time around Zuko, stating that it was uncomfortable to have them folded up under their elytra all the time. The only reason they’d done so back on the  _ Wani _ was because the narrow corridors made keeping them out difficult, and they wanted to look as unassuming as possible around the crew.

Zuko also tried keeping the Monarch Wings out when he could. It drained very little Soul to have them out, and even less when he wasn’t using them to actively fly. Nana taught him how to passively filter out Soul from the air around him to help keep his reserves topped off. 

Nana just told him that it was usually wise to keep them tucked in during combat, unless they really needed the aerial advantage, since wings were a bit delicate and with a vast portion of the human population having access to long-range attacks, the possibility of getting them damaged during a fight was very high. Not that Zuko truly had to worry about that, given that the Monarch wings were intangible to almost everything, but Zuko appreciated the concern.

It was becoming more and more natural to gesture with them or express himself using them instead of relying on facial expressions.

High Paleian was also different from Zuko’s mother tongue in that it was entirely phonetic instead of being symbol based. Instead of one symbol meaning a certain word or idea, High Paleian used a collection of symbols to sound words out. Most of the time, if you read a word aloud, you could get the pronunciation correct. There were a few weird exceptions, but for the most part that’s how it was. 

Some sounds and symbols were more common than others, but Zuko was just relieved he wouldn’t have to learn hundreds of new kanji. High Paleian had something called an ‘alphabet’ that listed all the symbols and their corresponding sounds out. There was even a little song that was taught to young grubs to help them learn.

That was another thing, the different vocabulary. There were terms and idioms Zuko had never heard before, some of which didn’t make much sense to him, but he supposed it did to an insect-based society. 

Nana had been delighted when Zuko asked them for stories about Hallownest’s history and culture. They’d even used a spool of silk they’d taken from Agni’s storage room to make him some new clothing. Zuko’s clothing had begun to wear unnaturally fast, what with them being the only clothes he had access to. It’s not like he’d had time to pack before Nana had made off with them into the Dream Realm. 

They also discovered that the Mantis Claw had massively increased the durability of the skin on his hands and feet, so he’d taken to walking around barefoot. It was a bit strange to get used to at first, but like with everything else, Zuko adapted quickly.

The silk his new clothes were made out of was unusually durable and soft, for silk. Nana had explained it was because it was silk made by the Weavers, who were a clan of spider-crab like beings. They had been famous for their silk production and weaving skills, and apparently Nana’s half-sister Hornet had been half Weaver herself.

That had led into a somber conversation about Nana’s family. While Hornet’s mother had been called Herrah the Beast, who was the Queen of Deepnest and leader of the Weaver Tribe, Nana, along with all their siblings, except for Hornet, had been the children of the Pale King and the White Lady, who had been a sapient tree. 

That threw Zuko for a bit of a loop, but it had inadvertently answered Zuko’s unasked question of how it was possible for Nana to have so many siblings. Their mother had apparently produced their eggs like fruits from a tree by the bushel to fuel the Pale King’s experimentations with using Void to create an empty being. 

Apparently, she had felt bad about it after the fact and refused to see the Pale King anymore or ever have any more kids with him, but it didn’t stop her from insisting that Nana sacrifice themselves to take Hollow’s place in trying to contain the Old Light. She refused to even see them as a person themselves when they visited her once, and had insulted Grimmchild to boot, so Nana didn’t really like her, either. 

They still absolutely hated the Pale King, though, which Zuko found understandable, given all the awful things he had done. How had they put it? “I hate Him with the fiery, burning passion of a thousand suns! No words in any language could accurately portray how much I utterly despise Him.” Something like that. And Zuko thought his family dynamic was messed up.

Zuko had had a bit of a crisis when he realized that he was technically descended from five separate Higher Beings, who were basically gods. He’d gotten over it quickly though. Nothing about that fact really changed anything. Zuko was still Zuko, no matter what face he wore or what name he bore, and Nana loved him regardless. That was enough for him.

* * *

While Zuko enjoyed spending time in the Dream Realm living in the Burrow with Nana, he did want to find his uncle. Zuko thought he might have gone to the mining village where he was going to confront the Avatar again, so that’s where they would start their search.

Zuko and Nana were ready to begin their journey back to the  _ Wani. _ They had stocked up on food and water collected in leather water-skins and Nana had made Zuko a few spare changes of silk clothes that they had dyed black with their Void. It was the only dye they had available and had the added bonus of making the clothes function like the Shade Cloak had.

Nana had long since made him a new cloak that actually fit him and wasn’t so worn once they’d figured out how to replicate its effects. They’d kitted Zuko out in some of the new charms that Agni had given them as well. Zuko currently had eleven charm notches available, since they’d found a couple extra ones in Agni’s storage room.

Zuko currently had Quick Slash, Sprintmaster, Unbreakable Strength, one of the new charms called Nightmare’s Delight, which greatly increased the power of Zuko’s Nightmare Flames at the cost of three charm notches, and another new charm called Shadow Step, which cost only one notch and completely silenced the bearer’s movements.

Nana had figured it was best to make him stronger and faster, while also allowing him to be stealthier if he needed to escape. Zuko had also decided to wear the First Flame for the time being. It boosted his firebending slightly when he wore it, and its steady beating was soothing to him and Nana seemed to enjoy seeing it as well. 

* * *

**All ready, Dear Heart?**

_ “Yess, Nana, let’ss go already! Uncle’ss probably worried ssick. I just hoped he sstayed put at the mining village.”  _ Zuko said in High Paleian, which he’d gotten into the habit of speaking to them in, in order to practice more. He wasn’t fluent yet, but he was getting close.

Ghost nodded and tore open a portal to the mortal world. They both quickly stepped through and the portal closed behind them without fanfare.

Upon exiting the portal, they were a bit surprised to see that it was night time. They were greeted with the expected sight of the small village from before. What was not expected, was the giant spirit monster currently attacking the village. It was the size of a two-story house and had four arms that it was currently using to smash apart a storefront.

Both Zuko and Ghost took cover behind a nearby building before it spotted them.

**Hei-Bai!**

_ “What?” _

**That spirit is Hei-Bai! It’s the spirit of the nearby forest, this must be Senlin Village!**

_ “Why’s it attacking the town?” _

**It’s angry that the forest was burnt down by the Fire Nation a few weeks ago and must be taking its anger out on the villagers!**

_ “If they didn’t burn the forest down, why’s it attacking them?!” _

**I don’t know, perhaps it just wants a target, and with the Winter Solstice approaching, it must have had enough strength to cross the boundary!**

Suddenly, their cover was torn away when a massive arm passed through the structure, smashing it to pieces. Hei-Bai looked a bit startled to see them but once it spotted the First Flame hovering above Zuko’s head, it seemed even more enraged than it already was.

It screeched at them, and before either of the pair could react, it swung its arm back around and backhanded Zuko across the street, where his body smashed through the side of a partly destroyed building. 

**ZUKO!**

Ghost felt their form begin to lose cohesion.

Hei-Bai raised one of its larger arms and tried to crush the fallen form of their grandson.

**NO.**

They called upon the sleeping Void Sea that resided deep within them on pure instinct. They grew to immense proportions in less time than it took to blink. Their Lord of Shades form towered over both Hei-Bai and the village.

They screeched their fury at Hei-Bai, and lashed out with their claws, too angry to even think of using a spell. The panda spirit, shocked by their sudden change in appearance, was unable to dodge in time and received a series of gashes along its flank. 

The wounds poured out glowing, liquid Dream Essence which shone in the cold night air. Ghost felt a dark satisfaction upon hearing its cries of pain.

Hei-Bai attempted to retreat back into the Dream Realm to escape this sudden new threat that was much larger and more powerful than its most aggressive form, but Ghost was having none of that.

Before the forest spirit had taken more than a few steps away, they lashed out with their arms and grabbed it. They screeched in its terrified face before they killed it.

**_[SUFFER!]_ **

They pulled their arms in different directions, literally tearing the unfortunate spirit limb from limb. Its pathetic dying screams soon faded away into the night air.

Its body dissolved into more liquid Dream Essence that coated their claws and the dirt of the village floor. They brought their claws to their mouth and quickly licked them clean, before using their powers to absorb all the Dream Essence left on the ground. 

They used their now-gigantic arms to pick apart the rest of the building to get to his injured body.

Once they found him, they let go of the Void Sea and reabsorbed it, returning it to dormancy inside their body. They felt tired and like their shell was too small, but they ignored everything to rush to Zuko’s side. 

He wasn’t quite unconscious, but their grandbaby clearly wished he was, if the pained groans were anything to go by. The protection spell had met its match it seemed. It had taken some of the impact before it shattered, but not enough to negate all the force of the blow, or the impact with the building afterwards. They quickly Focused their Soul and healed him.

_“Ugh, what wass that?”_ Zuko groaned.

**It’s okay Dear Heart, Hei-Bai is gone now and I’ve healed you. You had a couple of broken ribs, how do you feel now, does anything else hurt?**

_ “No, no I think I’m good. Did you kill it?” _

**Yes. It hurt you.**

_ “Good. It wass attacking people that hadn’t even done anything, it wass clearly dangerouss.” _

Nana pulled him into a hug and held him there. Zuko let them do it without fussing. They were clearly frightened by what just happened and wanted to make sure he was okay. It felt nice to have someone so concerned for his well-being. Nana re-applied the protection spell, even stronger this time. Clearly, the mortal realm was more dangerous than they had given it credit for.

At the sound of small, fast footsteps, the pair looked up and saw a small boy, no older than five, rapidly approaching them. He was wearing dirty nightclothes and had no shoes on. There was dirt on his face and Zuko could see where his tears had cut through it.

They heard some frantic shuffling in the largest building across from them. A woman’s hoarse, desperate shout for her son to come back was cut short by the other villagers, who frantically shushed her.

Zuko felt a bit ill when he realized the villagers thought they would hurt the boy. 

The boy had reached the pair and chirped out, “Thank you for getting rid of the scary monster! It was being really mean!”

“You’re welcome,” Zuko managed in reply. “Iss everyone elsse okay? No one’ss hurt?”

The boy blinked at him a bit before giggling. “You talk funny!”

Zuko huffed slightly and rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. Of course that’s all the boy cared about. Not his and Nana’s admittedly terrifying visages, but the fact that he had a slight lisp.

Nana reached out and patted the boy on the head gently before nudging him back towards the building where the villagers seemed to be hiding. The boy just grabbed onto Nana’s hand and tugged their arm towards the building.

“I’m sure mamma wants to say thank you, too!”

Nana’s mental voice was quiet in a way that meant only Zuko could hear them.

**Maybe we should go with him. There might be injured villagers, and the presence of the boy might help mitigate fear. You should handle all the talking, my methods of communication would likely only scare them more.**

“All right,” Zuko said aloud, both to the boy’s suggestion and to Nana’s idea.

The pair pulled themselves to their feet. Zuko’s long cloak barely touched the ground but it would hide his more human-looking feet, as long as he didn’t walk too fast.

“Wow! You’re really tall!” The boy said, looking up at Nana’s face in awe.

“Yess, they are, aren't they?” Zuko snickered.

Nana gently grabbed the boy’s hand in their own, though they had to crouch down slightly to do it. The boy eagerly led them to what appeared to be the town hall. The boy ran up to the door and shouted, “Mamma, the nice monsters are here to help! We should say thank you!”

The door slowly creaked open, revealing the face of a worried woman and a much older man. The woman frantically motioned for the boy to come inside. Nana released his hand and the boy happily greeted his mother who hugged him tightly in relief.

“We heard that there might be wounded in need of asssissstance?” Zuko said quietly. “Thiss little one inssissted we help. We posssesss healing powerss if any of your number are injured,” Zuko tried to speak as formally as possible, trying to give off the air of an old, mysterious spirit.

While the villagers looked a bit taken aback by Zuko’s voice, the old man asked them suspiciously, “What do you want from us in exchange for your help?”

Zuko and Nana shared a look. They hadn’t quite anticipated this, but they really should have. Spirits never did anything for free, after all. Zuko thought fast and came up with a believable lie. “A map of the area and sshelter for the night would be appreciated.”

The villagers looked even more surprised at their mundane request. “That’s it?” The old man said. At Zuko’s nod he continued, “Well, I suppose you two could stay at the village inn for the night. Not like anyone else is using it. We’ll get you a map in the morning, as long as you promise not to hurt anyone and keep your end of the bargain, but why do you even need such things, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“We are losst. We became sseparated from our group and need to find them. We sspend mosst of our time in the mortal realm traveling, and we do not wissh to return to the sspirit world until we find them,” Zuko said after a small pause. “Iss anyone in need of medical attention?”

“A few of the women were hurt when Hei-Bai emerged tonight. They were on the outskirts doing laundry when it attacked.” The old man paused before asking, “It’s really gone, right? It’s dead?”

“Yess. It will trouble your village no longer,” Zuko said diplomatically.

“Well, alright then, the women are this way,” The man opened the door wider to allow the pair to enter. The ceilings were nice and high, so Nana didn’t even have to crouch when they were inside. 

The old man led them around a corner and they saw most of the village population taking up refuge in one wing of the building. There was a cleared space in the crowd where three women were laying on the floor, in various states of injury. 

Two of the women only had moderate injuries from wooden shrapnel, but the third had a large gash across her abdomen. She clearly wouldn’t make it without immediate medical attention. A man knelt by her side, clutching her hand tightly and trying to reassure her that she’d be fine.

Nana rushed forwards to crouch at her free side before they spoke in High Paleian, momentarily forgetting that they had an audience.

_ “Dear Heart, can you handle the other two? This woman needs my full attention.” _

The crowd startled back a bit at the animalistic sounds of the ancient language. Zuko was quick to reply and reassure the townsfolk.

_ “Yes, it shouldn’t be a problem,” _ He said back. He turned to address the crowd. “The women will be fine, we can help them,” He turned to the first woman. “We have to touch you in order to heal you. May they take your hand? The healing processs is painlesss,” He assured.

The first, most heavily injured woman reached out towards Nana’s offered hand. “Not like I h-have much to lose,” She gasped. The man holding her other hand nodded grimly.

Nana simply nodded and started Focusing their Soul. They were quite tired from assuming their Shade Lord form, but it wasn’t an immediate issue thanks to the Essence they had absorbed from Hei-Bai.

The villagers all gasped at the sight of Nana and the woman beginning to glow a soft white. The woman’s wounds closed up rapidly, not even leaving a scar behind. The previously life-threatening wound was completely gone in a matter of seconds. The villagers began to chatter amongst themselves excitedly.

“How do you feel, Ming?” the young man asked. The woman sat up and brushed her hand across the healed skin.

“I feel great! There’s no more pain!” She bent her right knee and gasped, “Look, Shu, my bum knee’s all better too!”

“Thank you so much!” The man said with heartfelt gratitude. The woman chimed in with her own thanks as well. Nana simply nodded before turning to Zuko. He turned to the other two women. 

“May I have your hand?”

The women both thrust their hands out at the same time. He chittered a bit in amusement. Underneath his cloak, he carefully removed his glove and partially activated a Shadow Dash technique. It turned the skin of his hand black and cold like Nana's, though his lacked chitinous plates on the backs. This cleverly disguised his more human features but still allowed for the skin contact needed for the Focusing spell.

He gently grasped the first woman’s hand before Focusing his Soul into her to heal her injuries. It went in much the same way as the first woman’s. He soon moved on to the last woman. Once they were both healed, he stealthily replaced his glove under his cloak and stood back up. He swayed slightly. Focusing healing through other people was a lot harder than it looked!

“We sshall retire to the inn now. When the ssun rissess, we will collect the map and be on our way,” He told the old man, who nodded and thanked them sincerely for their help.

Zuko and Nana turned to exit the building. He was already looking forward to sleeping in a real human bed again. While the nest in the Burrow was very comfortable, it just wasn’t the same as a real bed.

* * *

The next morning, the pair exited the inn, only to be met with a small crowd of villagers. The women they had healed were there, along with the old man from last night. The man handed over a fairly new-looking map before stepping aside to let the women closer.

“We just wanted to show our appreciation for what you did for us last night. Me and the girls made you a few things for you to take with you, if you want? Some food and a couple of the specialty bead strings we make here,” Ming said.

Zuko gratefully took the offerings, handing the goods and one of the bead strings to a delighted Nana. They stored the food into their pocket-space, and Zuko enjoyed the looks of fascination on the women’s faces at the odd sight of Nana’s fluff seemingly absorbing the items.

_ “Thank you, these are lovely!” _ Nana said. They brought their right leg up before wrapping the wooden bead string many times around their ankle. They set their leg back down and enjoyed the dull clacking sounds from the beads rubbing against their shell.

“They send you their thanks,” Zuko translated.

The women nodded and stepped aside, allowing the pair to exit the inn. Zuko unrolled the map and consulted it with Nana.

_ “The mining village is located there,” _ Nana pointed to a certain spot on the map.  _ “It’s only a couple days' flight from here.” _

_ “I hope we find Uncle soon,” _ Zuko replied. He rolled up the map and handed it to Nana for them to store away in their fluff as well. He turned to address the curious villagers. “Thank you for your asssissstance. May your village prossper.”

The pair spread their wings in unison and flew off towards the mining village, leaving amazed villagers in their wake, completely unaware of the impression they had left on Senlin Village.

* * *

Not three hours later, a small band of weary travelers and three komodo-rhinos laden with supplies arrived at the village gates. Iroh’s string of curses when he learned he had just missed the pair would go down in village history amongst the rebellious youth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor iroh! missed them by thiiiiis much! we'll get to see more of his perspective soon, along with some of the rumors flying their way around the earth kingdom. ever wonder what zhao's been up to? nothing good or entirely sane, i assure you. the gaang did not fight hei-bai, which means aang never got roku's warning about the comet, and never went to his temple in the fire nation. this will have consequences, believe me, but not in the way that you think! ive been thinking of doing an agni and tui interlude, to show whats been going on in the dream realm. is anyone interested in that? please note that agni and tui are just friends in this AU, not siblings or lovers or anything like that. they like friendly business partners in making sure the sky is doing okay and that space isnt sending more bullshit power-boosting comets their way. one is enough, thank you very much!


	21. Interlude: Iroh's Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have a short interlude where we get to see iroh's perspective on events! everyone is super confused, cause nobody but ghost and zuko have the full picture. timeline-wise, irohs group get to senlin village just hours after our titular duo leave. aang's group get there a few of days after the fact, hence why the shrine is mostly all set up. they dont know that iroh group stopped by senlin either

Iroh sipped at his tea with a slightly trembling hand as he listened to the man’s tale. If Iroh did not already know for a fact that Ghost was real and absolutely capable of doing the things the man describes, he would’ve insisted the man sit down and rest, for clearly he’d stood out in the sun for too long.

Part of Iroh is quietly hopeful that this whole mess is all just a big understanding, and that his nephew is fine, that he is healthy and happy and alive. That is the part of Iroh that grew tired of the war and mourned for his son. The old man that just wants to rest and play Pai-Sho and brew tea for the rest of his days.

The other part of Iroh is not nearly so peaceful. It writhes and roars like an angry dragon, claws sharp and ready to strip flesh from bone and burn whatever is left to ashes. That is the Dragon of the West, the fearsome General Iroh who laid siege to the largest and most well fortified city ever built for six hundred days and  _ succeeded _ .

He will get his nephew back, one way or another. He just hopes that there is something recognizable of him left when Iroh finally does. From the man’s story, Ghost has indeed made off with his precious nephew and done  _ something _ to him.

When pressed, the man drew a rudimentary picture of the creature his nephew has apparently become. When the man finished and showed the drawing, he’d almost spit out all his tea in a most undignified manner. The man’s rendition couldn’t possibly be correct.

Iroh knew that face very well. While not an exact match, it was scarily close to the sacred painting depicting Agni Himself in the Dragonbone Catacombs beneath Agni’s temple. While there had not been a flaming mane, everything else about the picture and verbal description seemed to match. The horns were a slightly different shape, but that could be chalked up to the man’s lack of artistic ability.

There was no mistaking the First Flame that took center stage above the creature’s head. Or perhaps it was just something that resembled it? Was the creature Ghost was travelling with really his nephew? The way the man described Ghost’s protective tendencies matched up with their previous behavior, but Iroh just didn’t have enough information.

Something very strange was going on, and Iroh was determined to get to the bottom of it. Perhaps reviewing what he did know would help?

1) Ghost and his nephew had gotten into an argument. Ghost had seemed extremely upset, acting aggressive in a way the crew had not seen before by firing off magic spells willy-nilly off the side of the ship.

2) Zuko had gone to apologize and ask what he could do to make it up to Ghost. He had been gone a long time, but Iroh had not heard shouting or other noises to indicate a struggle.

3) When Iroh had gone to check up on the pair, Ghost had been cradling Zuko like a baby would be held, and Zuko’s eyes and mouth were glowing with hellfire. He’d looked dazed and confused before he’d fallen unconscious in Ghost’s arms, steaming in the night air.

4) Ghost had become extremely aggressive toward him when he attempted to approach. While they had not outright attacked him, when pressed, they fled through a portal of some kind. It glowed white and Iroh thought he’d seen trees in the background.

5) While they had been missing, the sun had dimmed in the sky and his inner flame suddenly insisted that the sun was located far to the south, back towards the Southern Air Temple and the Abyss, and his inner flame had felt more powerful than ever before. It was sort of like how he expected Sozin’s Comet to feel. Hours later, the sun and his inner fire had gone back to normal.

6) Nearly a week later, Senlin Village had been attacked by Hei-Bai and then saved by Ghost and another unknown spirit(?). Ghost had not been aggressive toward the villagers in the slightest when they approached the new maybe-spirit. The two had conversed in a strange language and not through Ghost’s mind-speech.

Iroh wasn’t sure what it all meant. He pondered the possible connections between the events for some time. The more he thought about it, the more things began to slide into place in a configuration that Iroh did not like.

While he definitely did not know for sure what exactly was going on, but he had a guess. Iroh knew that Ghost had had a child with an individual named Grimm, who was apparently some kind of supposed god of fire and nightmares. Ghost mourned their child’s death very much, and often expressed a desire to see them again. Iroh understood the sentiment very well, which is why he had the suspicions he did.

Perhaps something had happened and Ghost had decided to claim his nephew as some kind of replacement child? There was a certain kind of precedent for it. 

There were many spirit tales describing the spirits, well, spiriting away children to raise them as their own. Changelings, they were called, for the children often became changed or warped by the spirits that had stolen them, often taking on similar features.

Ghost was absolutely ancient, and if they had survived all these years, who’s to say that another similar creature didn’t? Maybe that’s why Agni resembled Ghost quite a bit, now that he thought about it. Perhaps they were the same species, or something similar?

That would sort of explain why Zuko resembled both Ghost and Agni. If he’d been changed or transformed into the same species as them, it would make sense why they all looked similar. 

If Ghost had taken his nephew to replace their dead child, imbuing him with fire powers or some kind of other connection to the sun, the greatest source of fire that Iroh knew of, would make a certain kind of sense, but Zuko was already a firebender, so maybe not? He had no idea what Ghost was truly capable of, since they seemed to just reveal new powers and abilities at opportune moments.

Perhaps Ghost had asked Agni to change Zuko or bless him somehow? It made about as much sense as anything else. Iroh sighed heavily and set his face in his hands. He didn’t know what was going on or what he was going to do.

The others were weary from traveling so quickly to get here, chasing the rumors of spirit activity, so perhaps they would stay for a few days to regain their strength before moving on. Move on to where, Iroh didn’t know that, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so how bout that? irohs conflicted b/c he doesnt have enough info and really weird shits been happening and he's trying to force all the pieces together and is feelin kinda betrayed, but mostly just wants his nephew back. ghost is secondary to that.


	22. Zuko Thinks Of Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we get to see what zuko and ghost are up to, and we get a bit more worldbuilding! please note that know jack-all about sword making, and most of the info in this chappie comes from what i can remember from me half-heartedly watching 'forged in fire' while i cook. so, apologies for any wild inaccuracies! Also, theres a couple of references to other franchises and stories i like in this chappie because i cant help myself. yes the title is an alice in wonderland reference b/c i love the books and i didnt completely hate the movies. also double update lets goooo! be sure to read irohs short interlude i posted before this chappie

Nana and Zuko raced across the open sky, free as eagle-hawks. Zuko often let out whoops of joy as he pulled off increasingly complex aerial stunts. Nana wasn’t even scolding him for being reckless like Uncle would’ve, they knew that Zuko could handle himself, at least for this. He appreciated that. 

Uncle never let him do anything fun without excessive amounts of fretting and disapproval. Nana just gave him the tools necessary to keep himself safe and then accompanied him in whatever dumb thing he decided to try.

They flew for hours, over vast forests and rocky mountains. Zuko never knew how beautiful the world was from a bird’s eye-view before Nana had given him wings. 

Nana had given him a lot of things, now that he thought about it. While he was grateful and always made sure to say thank you, (Nana was weirdly strict about politeness, especially with strangers, unless they were rude first) he wished he could do something to show his appreciation.

When the sun started to set, the pair decided to land and set up camp in the woods a fair distance away from a dirt road. Zuko consulted the map to find their location, but traveling by foot was much different from traveling by wing. Just when Zuko began to think that they were lost again, Nana once again had the solution. 

They handed him a small charm that looked like a compass and began explaining how it worked.

_ “It’s called ‘Wayward Compass’ and it shows your current position on a map in real-time. I used it a lot when I first started exploring Hallownest. I would get lost in the twisting passageways constantly, and this charm saved my shell more times than I could count. It costs only one charm notch and you have to channel Soul through the charm and the map in question to link the two first.” _

Zuko was fascinated, and removed the Shadow Step charm in favor of the Wayward Compass. As soon as he had linked the map and charm, a cartoonish representation of his mask, complete with tear and scar markings, appeared as if it was drawn on the map.

_ “That’ss really usseful!” _

_ “Yes, and it looks like we’ll be able to make it to the mining village around mid-day tomorrow if we keep at the same pace.” _

Nana began to gather small branches and twigs to begin weaving a temporary nest for them to sleep in. They used Soul to hold everything together and when the shell was done, Zuko helped gather leaves to fill the interior. Nana used some more Soul to remove and regrow large patches of their fluff to add to the nest.

_ “Doess that hurt? And why do you do that anyway, aren’t the leavess enough?” _ Zuko asked.

_ “No, Dear Heart, it is painless, and I suppose I do it because of instinct.” _

_ “Insstinct? I thought that was only for animalss?” _

_ “Well, every living creature has instincts, even humans, although they’re not very strong in people, I’ll admit. My instincts tell me to line my nest with my fluff, because it is very soft and carries my scent, which will scare away predators and help protect any eggs or grubs I leave in it from attack. I suppose it comes from my father’s genetics. He was a wyrm, and they were highly territorial and protective over their broods. It was part of the reason he clashed so badly with the Old Light.” _

_ “Oh. I’m not a grub, though, I’m perfectly capable of protecting mysself!” _ He insisted.

Nana huffed a small laugh.  _ “Try telling my instincts that. To them, you are my grub, and though I know you are much more capable than a typical grub, I still feel the need to protect and care for you like one. Can you collect some firewood and set up a campfire while I finish this up?” _

Zuko sighed. He knew a lost cause when he saw one. _ “Ssure, I’ll be back ssoon.” _

* * *

The next morning, Zuko had gone off to collect more firewood for the morning meal after he extracted himself from Nana’s octopus-squid hold they’d had on him.

Zuko had only been collecting firewood for a few minutes, when his higher than average hearing detected the sound of a wooden cart traveling over the nearby dirt road. Curious, he re-equipped the Shadow Step charm, dimmed the First Flame from its place above his head, and crept silently forward through the undergrowth.

He positioned himself on a tree branch that hung above the road. A large tree had grown in an odd sort of curve over the road, creating the perfect place to conceal himself in the canopy foliage and watch the road below at the same time.

Zuko watched the large, strangely-shaped cart trundle down the road, being pulled by a pair of ostrich-horses. It had a second, smaller cart attached to the back of the first one. It was one of the strangest things Zuko had ever seen. The second cart seemed to be made of a single solid piece of stone, somehow. Was the cart driver an earthbender?

Suddenly, one of the bigger cart’s thick wooden wheels caught in a dip in the ground before a few of the sturdy spokes snapped from the sudden impact. The wheel collapsed on itself, unbalancing the first cart and almost unseating the man driving it.

The man regained his balance and calmed his startled ostrich-horses. After that, he went around to the side of the cart and began cursing at the broken wheel. He had a curious accent that made the entire tirade even funnier.

The swears were new Earth Kingdom variations Zuko had never heard before, and he’d heard a lot of swears from living on a boat with a bunch of actual sailors for three years. Zuko quietly tucked away the new curse words for later use in his mind. While Nana didn’t seem to mind a little foul language, he didn’t want to push his luck.

While Zuko didn’t particularly want to reveal himself to this random Earth Kingdom man, he would feel bad if he just left the man without offering help first. They were miles away from any civilization, and this man seemed to be traveling alone. If he didn’t have a spare wheel handy, he may have to abandon his cart, which probably contained most, if not all, of his worldly possessions.

Zuko debated for some minutes on whether or not to reveal himself and offer help, when the man put his head in his hands and began to cry softly.

_ Oh, hell. _ Zuko sighed heavily.  _ Guess I’m helping, then. Hope Nana isn’t too mad. _

Zuko shortly debated on what to say before he dropped from the tree a few feet from the side of the cart. His landing was completely silent, though the ostrich-horses startled and stamped their feet at his sudden appearance. 

The man looked up and gasped, falling on his behind when he tripped over his own feet. Zuko crouched down in front of him so he didn’t tower over the already terrified man.

“I ssee your cart wheel iss broken. Do you require asssissstance?”

“W-wha?” 

Zuko huffed and twitched his wings in irritation. If there was one downside to his new appearance, it was that everyone was terrified of him at first sight.

“Would you like ssome help? Your cart is clearly sstuck.”

“W-wha’ do yeh wan’ in exchange?” Came the man’s scared response.

Zuko mentally rolled his eyes. This again. Well, he was curious about the strange second cart made of stone.

“I am a curiouss being, and I have never sseen anything like your sstrange sstone cart. Tell me about it, and I will help repair your broken wheel.”

Zuko stood up and held out his gloved hand to the man. The man cautiously took it and Zuko pulled him upright effortlessly, thanks to the Unbreakable Strength charm bolstering his muscles. 

Zuko looked at the man expectantly and tilted his head, indicating curiosity. The man eventually got the unsubtle hint to begin explaining.

“Well, uh, I’m a travelin’ blacksmith, an’ an earthbender. The stone cart is simply my portable forge, all folded up. I travel ter various smaller towns an’ make tools and small metal things ther villages don’t usually ‘ave access to. Travelin’ smiths aren’t too rare in ther Earth Kingdom. I’m surprised yeh ‘aven’t come across any before me.” The man eyed the dim fireball above the spirit’s head and noted its red glowing eyes. “Are yeh, uh, a fire spirit?”

“Yess. We travel around the world and have sseen many placess, although we have never been thiss deep into the Earth Kingdom before.”

“We?” The man questioned. He didn’t seem to react badly to Zuko’s claim of being a fire spirit. Then again, he was a blacksmith, and probably spent a lot of time around fire.

“Yess. I travel with one other, the Black Sspirit. They will fix your wheel for you if I assk it of them.”

“Oh, um, okay. Wha’ do yeh wan’ to be called?”

“I have been called the Sscarlet Sspirit by ssome.” Zuko watched with no small amount of amusement as Nana emerged from the underbrush silently before sneaking up behind the man. They’d probably come looking for him and heard everything. Their senses were scarily good.

“Alrigh’, then. So, uh, ‘ow’s ther Black Spirit going ter fix my wheel? Are they...around ‘ere somewhere?”

_ “Yes.” _ Came Nana’s voice from directly behind the man.

The man squealed like a little girl before whirling around, clutching at their chest.

“Oma and Shu, please never do tha’ again! My heart can’t take it!”

Ghost and Zuko shared a chirping laugh.

The man finally seemed to register how much taller Nana was compared to himself.

“Oh...uh...yer very tall…” The man said meekly.

_ “I am aware.” _ Came Nana’s deadpan reply. Zuko fought back a laugh at the bewildered look on the man’s face.

“They cannot sspeak the human tongue,” Came Zuko’s explanation. “They undersstand it just fine, however.”

“Oh, uh, okay then. Tha’s fine, but how are yeh going ter fix my wheel? Unless yeh can rewind time or ‘ave woodworking tools ‘idden away somewhere?”

“They actually can rewind time, for non-living objectss anywayss,” Zuko said, a bit smugly. Nana was awesome like that.

“Wait, fer real? Yer not messin’ wit’ me?”

_ “Dear Heart, can you lift the cart out of the ditch and hold it there? Fixing the wheel shouldn’t take long.” _

He simply nodded. “Pleasse sstand back, I’m going to move your cart now.” 

Zuko moved towards the front corner of the cart before planting his bare feet in the earth and hooking his gloved fingers under the edge of the bottom of the cart. He heaved up and held the front corner of the cart aloft, the broken wheel dangling about a foot off the ground.

The man’s mouth dropped open at the sight of the Scarlet Spirit just casually lifting a corner of his extremely heavy cart up off the ground. The cart must have weighed thousands of pounds! It was laden with lots of heavy, metal ingots, after all!

While Zuko effortlessly held up the cart’s corner, Nana came to stand beside him. They cast the same Void-based spell that they had used on Kyoshi Island, only this time on a much, much smaller scale. Void particles swirled around the shattered wheel before mending the broken wooden pieces back together without glue or nails.

“Kyoshi’s boots! Yer weren’t pullin’ my leg after all!” The man said in amazement.

Zuko gently set the cart down, carefully avoiding setting the wheel back down in the same ditch that had damaged it. He heard the clanking of metal bars moving around in the bed of the cart and suddenly had a brilliant idea.

_ “Nana, do you sstill have the Pure Nail and that bag of Geo in your pocket-sspace? I think I just figured out how to ssolve our sswordlesss problem! If I can barter for ssome quality metal and the usse of hiss forge, I could forge uss ssome sswordss! It’ss been a long time ssince I lasst used a forge, but it sshouldn’t be too hard!” _

Ghost caught on quickly. _ “Brilliant idea, Dear Heart! Ask him if he would be willing to trade for some metal and the use of his forge for long-forgotten spirit money. Mention that it’s made of solid metal, so he could melt it down to sell it if he wanted.” _

“Uh, yeh guys okay?” the man asked nervously, probably freaked out by their excited chittering.

“Yess, everything is perfect! Would you be willing to trade ssome metal ingotss and the usse of your forge for ssome Geo? Though Geo iss no longer ussed ass currency in thiss realm, it iss made from ssolid metal and could be melted down for profit.”

“Err...I guess I could set up shop temporarily, yeh did really help me out basically fer free, after all. Least I could do. I dunno what Geo is though, could I see some?”

Ghost obligingly pulled out the Pure Nail and the small sack of money and handed them over to their grandbaby. Though the bag was small, it functioned like a pocket-space itself, and could hold much more than its size would suggest.

“Could you alsso try to identify the metalss used in thiss ssword? It iss made from a very rare metal, and I would like to ssee if I could replicate or imitate the material.”

“Uh, I could try. No guarantees, though. I’ll set up the forge an’ get some stock metal out o’ storage for yer to look at.”

The man stomped his feet in typical earthbender fashion, and the solid stone contraption being pulled behind the wooden cart shifted and unfolded into a fully-functional stone forge. 

The man made his way to the back of the cart and pulled out several different types of metal ingots. He laid them out in a row across a makeshift countertop he earthbent into existence beside the forge.

“Alright, Tha’s all set up, and I’ve go’ a wider-than-normal selection o’ metal right now, I jus’ restocked at the mining village not too far from ‘ere. Now, wha’ sword did yeh want me ter look at?”

Zuko held out the Pure Nail for him to take, handle first and blade toward the ground. The man gasped upon seeing it.

“Sweet spirits, would yeh look a’ the detail on tha’! This is incredible!” The man babbled as he turned the small Pure Nail this way and that. “The metal’s ice-cold! Yeh say yer dunno wha’ it’s made of?”

“It’ss made from a rare metal called Pale Ore. We’re pretty ssure it doesn’t exisst anymore, sso we want to know if it iss posssible to replicate it using exissting materialss.”

“Hmmm...tricky…” The man muttered. He tapped the flat of the blade with his fingernails and stroked it with the pads of his fingers. He was unknowingly using a very subtle form of the yet-undiscovered technique of metalbending to try and sense the composition of the sword. He’d been doing that for years, completely ignorant of the untapped potential inside himself.

The man stared intently at the strange sword. To him, it felt like an alloy of titanium and sliver, but with some unknown third ingredient that wasn’t even metal. It felt almost...liquid.

“Well, thi’ is strange, indeed.” The man muttered.

“Have you figured it out?” Zuko said, a bit impatient.

“Keep yer horns on! I was jus’ abou’ to tell yer!” The man huffed. “It feels like a weird combination o’ titanium and silver, but there’s somethin’ else in there, too. Some kind o’ strange liquidy somethin’ or other. I don’ know how else ter describe it, sorry.”

Nana perked up at that.  _ “Dear Heart, I believe he is referring to Soul! We may be able to replicate Pale Ore, after all!” _

Zuko became excited at that declaration and asked the man how much the titanium and silver ingots would cost. He was a bit worried they wouldn’t have enough or that the man wouldn’t accept the Geo. Titanium was quite expensive, and so was silver, for that matter. 

Although the Fire Nation had vastly superior forging techniques, the Earth Kingdom produced the purest ore by using earthbending to bend undesirable impurities out of molten metal, so hopefully, pure ingots of each material wouldn’t cost as much as he feared it would.

Zuko opened the bag and poured out a small handful of Geo. The different denominations of oddly-shaped metal coins clicked and clanked together in his hand. He held it out for the man to take. 

The man’s eyes widened upon spotting the golden and silvery pieces. He ran his fingers over the precious metals.

“Thi’ is some really pure stuff yeh got ‘ere! Hmm, let’s say ther gold ones are equivalent ter three gold pieces fer simplicity's sake. They’re abou’ ther same size anyhow.” The man suddenly gasped when he touched some of the smaller, round, silvery Geo. “These other ones are pure platinum! I’ve never seen so much in somethin’ tha’ wasn’t a piece o’ jewelry on some rich snob’s fingers! Gimme a few more o’ those ones, and yeh can ‘ave as many ingots of titanium an’ silver as yeh wan’!” The man said excitedly.

Ghost found that a bit odd, since the round silvery Geo pieces were worth much less than the spherical golden ones. Perhaps platinum was more common in Hallownest way back then, so it was deemed less valuable? They shrugged, but were happy to know that they could likely purchase as much stuff as they wanted. They had thousands of the small platinum Geo pieces, after all.

_ “Best not to let the man know exactly how much of those we have, or he may choose to raise his prices. Count out five more of the platinum ones and ask if that is enough.” _

Zuko did as instructed and the man seemed ecstatic. He told them they could use the forge for as long as they needed to in order to finish their new swords and that they could use however much titanium and silver they wanted. The few platinum Geo they had given the man was apparently more valuable than what the man would normally make at three regular stops. 

The man, upon request, told them the ratio of metals and ‘liquidy stuff’ in the sword. Three parts titanium to two parts silver and one part ‘weird liquidy stuff’. Zuko gathered the necessary materials and eagerly got to work at the forge.

The man was fascinated when Nana began condensing Soul into a liquid form and filling a stone bucket with it, and was then horrified when Zuko had translated and informed him that the ‘weird liquidy stuff’ was concentrated life-force.

They’d had to reassure the man that nobody had been murdered to get it, and that it was produced in their own bodies and that it was everywhere and could even be pulled out of the air. He’d calmed down after that, but he still looked a bit shaken.

* * *

Zuko attempted to get the forge up to temperature quickly, but was frustrated at the slow progress, until Nana mentioned that he could probably speed it up using his bending. Zuko recalled old myths and stories of legendary swords being forged using the fiery breath from dragons. 

He knew his uncle could breathe fire, which was a very high level firebending technique, and also how Iroh had earned his infamous nickname, “The Dragon of the West”. Zuko figured it was worth a shot and tried breathing flame into the slowly heating heart of the forge.

He was surprised by how incredibly easy it was! He’d had to pull back on the power before he melted the stone the forge was made of! He’d also inadvertently scared the crap out of the man, whose name turned out to be Dabi.

The forge had quickly reached temperature and the silver-titanium alloy had begun to melt. Zuko breathed more Nightmare flame into the forge whenever it started to cool off too much. Dabi watched the process with fascination. 

During his and Nana’s time in the Dream Realm, they’d discovered that Zuko, and whatever he happened to be wearing at the time, was completely immune to fire and hot temperatures after he bonded with the Nightmare Heart, or as Zuko called it, the First Flame. So, Dabi got a front row seat to Zuko just sticking his gloved hands into a blazing forge and pulling out a bucket of molten metal.

Nana approached with the bucket of Soul and carefully poured it in while Zuko stirred the molten mixture with a hand to mix it together. Once the Soul had fully incorporated, he stuck it back in the forge and blasted it with more scarlet Nightmare Flame from his mouth. The sheer novelty of breathing fire still hadn’t worn off yet.

At the pair's instruction, Dabi had bent a set of stone moulds into the shapes of two identical Longnails taller than Zuko’s entire body, and a slightly modified set of Dual-Dao swords that had taken on some Nail characteristics, mainly near the handle. 

Instead of a crossguard like normal, the sword blade just flared out and became thick enough at the base to form a large lip, like the Pure Nail had. It quickly flattened back out into the regular blade shape of a Dao sword, though.

Zuko put the forging skills he had learned at Master Piandao’s mansion to good use for the first time in years.   


The moulds were soon filled and Nana had filled the quenching tub with a mixture of Soul and the normal oil. Once the molten metal had solidified enough to be removed from the moulds, they’d be quenched and then hammered into shape by Zuko. The blades would then be heat-treated with more of Zuko’s Nightmare flame before being quenched in the Soul-oil again to make the blades even stronger. Then, all that was left was to sharpen and polish the blades, and perhaps wrap the handles in some Soul-Silk.

* * *

When the swords had been quenched the final time, Zuko sharpened all the edges to a deadly slant and began polishing them. To his surprise, what he thought was just scorching on the metal, turned out to be the color of the blades.

Instead of a pale, silvery white like the Pure Nail, the new blades were a pitch black that absorbed all light and made the blades seem more like a hole in reality. When Nana picked one of their new Longnails up and tried channeling Soul into it out of curiosity, patterns of glowing, white light shone out of the blade in a very similar style to the markings on the Pure Nail.

When Zuko did the same to his own Dual-Dao Nails, as he’d dubbed them, the same patterns appeared, but in the same scarlet red as his fire. When the two swapped swords with each other, the Longnails lit up red in Zuko’s hands, and the Dual-Dao Nails had lit up white in Nana’s hands, when they tried it.

For whatever reason, the colors seemed linked to each person and not the swords themselves. They both shrugged it off as the Nightmare Flame’s influence during the forging process. 

Dabi had been amazed at the creations and demanded that the pair name each sword, as all legendary blades had equally legendary names, he’d said.

Nana had named theirs as a pair, and called them the ‘Vorpal Nails’, and had laughed and mentioned something about finding some strange creature called a ‘Jabberwocky’ to slay using them. Zuko just shook his head at Nana’s weird naming conventions. 

He had also decided to name his blades as a pair, and had decided to call his new swords the ‘Suneater Blades’, since they almost seemed made out of shadow and absorbed all light they came into contact with, except for light from Zuko’s own Nightmare Flames. 

Nana had provided a small spool of glowing, white Soul-Silk and he’d wrapped the handles of all four blades with it, adding some very aesthetically-pleasing contrast to the black blades.

They had given Dabi an extra platinum Geo as a tip, and he’d gone happily on his way after packing his slightly-singed forge back up.

Zuko felt much better about finally having a real, tangible weapon with him again. And he’d finally gotten to teach Nana something for once! They had no idea how to handle using two swords at once, something that Zuko was quite skilled at. He’d had fun being able to play the teacher for once, and Nana was an excellent student. 

That night, they’d regaled him with tales of the Nailmasters and how one of them, named Mato, had been the closest thing Nana had to an actual father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for reference i tried to make dabi's accent sorta like how hagrid from HP talks. hes a bit of gruff blacksmith type character, and i figured it was fine to give him an accent, since the earth kingdom is fckin huge, so theres gotta be different dialects and stuff, right? zuko and ghost's legend will continue to grow from here, since dabi's a notorious gossip lol :). also i know titanium wasnt fully utilized until like the 1900's but shhhhhh! i tried to hint at it when i said the earth kingdom makes the best metal, since they use earthbending to pull earth-based impurities out of the metal. no, they are not bending the metal itself, but the minute mineral impurites located in the metal, like how toph uses them to bend metal. even though i hate 'legend of korra' with the fiery burning passion of a thousand suns, in it they explain a bit more about how metalbending works, and apparently if the metal is pure enough, they cant do jack shit to it, so thats how i explain it. the metal-identifying bit dabi does is just some plot device i had to come up with so that ghost and zuko could have more pale ore, since it sure as shit doesnt occur naturally anymore. i kind hate how i had to use plot deus ex machina's like this, but i didnt see a way around it that would have allowed ghost to find more pale ore but also have none of the nations know about its existence. my solution: its an alloy that only occurs very very rarely in places with high Soul concentration, and places like that just straight up dont exist in the elemental nations anymore, so its actually a natural alloy that can be artificially replicated by adding Soul when mixing the alloy yourself. also zuko is now totally fire proof, so enjoy iroh having a heart attack the first time he shows that off in a zuko-typical way, like trying to swim in lava or some other dumbassery like that. :D


	23. Grand Theft Auto: Maritime Edition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pirates of the carribean theme song intensifies* I had so much fun writing this chapter! so much delicious chaos! you all thought i forgot about isma's tear, didn't you?? you all thought that nothing happened after zuko ate it, didn't you?? AHAHAHA!!

Zuko and Nana arrived in the mining village around noon, a couple of days after the pair had helped Dabi and finally gotten their claws on some quality weapons. Zuko had a fun time showing them how to fight with two swords, although some of his techniques had to be adapted because of the Vorpal Nails’ size and shape.

Nana had in turn shown him the Nail Arts, passed down to them from the last great Nailmasters. Zuko’s favorite was the Dash Slash, since it matched well with his current fighting style of quick attacks and quicker dodges. Nana insisted that the Cyclone Slash was the superior option, but Zuko thought that was just their bias showing through.

Although Zuko had to admit, Nana was properly terrifying when they seemingly disappeared and became nothing but a blurring, spinning top with blades that gave them a scary amount of reach.

* * *

They decided to wait until sundown to scope out the town and look for Iroh and the  _ Wani _ , they didn’t want to be spotted by anyone else.

It didn’t take them long to sneak into the docks, which were quite substantial for a town of this size. Zuko became worried when he saw evidence of a Fire Nation outpost that had been destroyed on the edge of town. Nana said that it was likely that the Water Tribe girl had succeeded in her attempt to free the prisoners from the offshore rig.

They were both worried that Uncle had realized the townsfolk were no longer tolerating a Fire Nation presence in their town and had left, or never stopped there in the first place. They searched the docks, but soon discovered that neither Iroh nor the  _ Wani _ had stopped at the port. 

Zuko had snuck into the dockmaster’s office and rumaged through the records of which ships had docked at the port, and his fears were soon confirmed when the records showed that no ship of the  _ Wani’s _ description had made port at the town.

Zuko was starting to worry that they’d never find Uncle, but Nana’s calm presence helped. If nothing else, he wasn’t alone, and Nana wouldn’t leave him. They suggested checking the surrounding towns that had ports to see if Iroh had stopped at any of them. It’d give them a lead, if nothing else.

Zuko had gotten a bit tired of campfire-cooked meats and fruits, so they had broken into a local grocers and stolen a few staples like rice and some hardier vegetables, as well as a big cooking pot for stews and other such things. 

Zuko didn’t feel too bad about the entire thing, since he’d left a handful of golden Geo on the counter, surely worth more than what the goods would have sold for normally.

* * *

The pair had slowly made their way up the coast, checking every Fire Nation-friendly port they came across. On the third one, they thought they’d finally found Iroh, since the  _ Wani _ was docked at the very end of the pier.

Zuko removed his mask for the first time since he’d put it back on in Agni’s storage room weeks ago. He’d immediately noticed that he felt vulnerable, feeling the salty sea breeze brush through his much longer hair and not through his horns. 

His mouth felt strange, with too-blunt teeth and no chelicerae. He kept trying to move them out of habit and became frustrated when he remembered they weren't there anymore. His left eye was once again set in a permanent squint and Zuko was irritated at the minor loss in peripheral vision.

He hoped the others wouldn’t mind if he wore his mask around on the ship sometimes. His fleshy human face felt far too open and vulnerable for his liking. Honestly, every tiny emotion made his face move, and how had this not driven him crazy before?!

Whatever. He didn’t want to give Uncle even more of a heart attack when he saw Zuko with glowing eyes, so the mask stayed off for the time being. He secured it to the top of his head like a strange hat using the red ribbon that had once held up his phoenix tail. 

His hair apparently still grew when his head was transformed by the mask, so his phoenix tail had been quite overgrown anyway, not to mention the hair that grew to cover the rest of his previously-bald head. It was so itchy, why did people grow their hair out, anyway?

Zuko’s joy upon finding the  _ Wani _ immediately turned to confusion, and then alarm when he realized that the  _ Wani  _ was completely empty. No one was onboard and all the supplies had been removed. None of Zuko’s things were in his room, everything was gone, and it looked like someone had given the ship a thorough cleaning, almost like it was getting ready to...be...sold…

Zuko let out a horrid choking noise as he tried to call out to Nana in High Paleian, forgetting that his now-human vocal chords were no longer capable of such a thing. He coughed a couple more times before he got his mouth back under control enough to speak like a human again.

“Nana! Something’s wrong!”

_ “I noticed Dear Heart, everything and everyone is gone, the ship is empty. Was the ship robbed?” _

“No, someone’s cleaned the interior, I think the  _ Wani _ is being put up for sale! What happened to Uncle, he wouldn’t just abandon the  _ Wani _ for no reason! Something happened to make him sell it. Something bad, probably.”

_ “Do you think he was forced to sell it? What would cause him to do such a thing, though?” _

“I don’t know why he would...the  _ Wani’s _ been home for me for three years. I remember telling Uncle that once I captured the Avatar and restored my honor, that I wanted to keep the  _ Wani _ , refurbish it maybe. It felt wrong to just abandon it…I don’t think he would have sold it on a whim, something must have happened.”

_ “Perhaps he went searching for us on foot and couldn’t pay to keep it docked for so long?” _

“That would make more sense…” Zuko trailed off, a troubled and conflicted look on his face.

_ “Do not fret, Dear Heart, we’ll find him eventually.” _

“But what if the  _ Wani _ gets sold off before we can find him and come back here? I know it’s dumb, but I really don’t want to give up the  _ Wani _ to anyone else. It was mine, even when just about nothing else was…”

_ “It is not dumb, Dear Heart. The Wani is your home, it is normal to feel territorial over what is yours, especially your home.” _

“Yeah, but I don’t see a way around it...not like we can just buy it back, and even if we could, we couldn’t sail it by ourselves, so it’d be stuck here regardless.

_ “Hmmm...how opposed are you to the idea of grand theft auto?” _

“What? What does that even mean?”

_ “Grand theft auto was a term used back in my homeland that was used to refer to the crime of stealing a motor powered vehicle with the intention to keep said stolen vehicle.” _

“Wait, you’re suggesting that we steal the  _ Wani _ from the port?! How would we even pull something like that off? We can’t operate the ship with just the two of us!”

_ “We’d pull it off like we do everything else: with the application of maximum effort and loads of magic!” _

“Uh huh. Can you elaborate?” Zuko said a bit sarcastically. This whole situation was stressing him the hell out and now Nana was talking about just casually stealing a whole-ass ship from underneath the dockmaster’s nose!

_ “Remember when I was talking about how the Crystal Heart was used to power large machinery? I think that with a bit of tinkering and a lot of Soul-runes, I could get the ship to function mostly automatically, and then we can just sail it out of here!  _

_ We could sneak into the dockmaster’s office and steal the bill of sale and the ship’s registration papers, so that they couldn’t even really report it stolen! We could hide it somewhere no one would find it, and then just come back and get it once we find Iroh and the others!” _

“...By the First Flame, I can’t  _ believe _ I’m even considering this...how are we doing this?” Zuko said both with resignation and a bit of excitement.

_ “Well, the creation of the runes may take a few days for me to puzzle out. You know how to operate the ship theoretically, right? You know how the engine’s supposed to work and all that? What do the engines run on?” _

“Yes I made sure I knew everything I could about how the  _ Wani _ worked, I wanted to be a good captain, and the engines are powered by coal and steam-power, but what does that have to do with anything?”

_ “I can rig the engines so that instead of coal and steam, the motor of the ship is powered directly by the Crystal Heart and then use more runes to hook up the controls so that the entire ship can be controlled remotely from the helm.  _

_ The Crystal Heart would need much less maintenance than a coal-powered boiler system, so it wouldn’t need someone in the engine room constantly monitoring everything.” _

“Holy crap, that might actually work…” Zuko said, amazed.

_ “Yes, and I think I may be able to overclock the engines with a little extra effort, so the ship could go much faster than it could before!” _

“Okay, so how do we make this happen?”

_ “Well, first we need to…” _

* * *

With the plan made, Zuko replaced his mask eagerly and the pair got to work. It was mostly Ghost carving Soul-runes into the metal hull and interior of the ship, but Zuko had also acted as a lookout by spying on the dockmaster, to make sure that he didn’t sell the  _ Wani _ before they were ready to steal it. The carving of the runes was taking longer than expected and they had been at it for days now.

The plan had almost fallen apart when an interested buyer had come to look at the  _ Wani _ before making a decision to purchase it. Watching the dockmaster pitch the sale of Zuko’s own ship to this total stranger made his blood boil. 

Zuko put his stealth charms and sneaking skill to good use, and made it seem like the ship was haunted. It had been hilarious watching the men jump at every scratch of his claws against the metal and glimpse of his glowing eyes they caught out of the corners of their own.

Zuko had almost blown his cover by laughing at the man’s expression when the dockmaster had admitted to the man that Iroh had apparently sold the ship because the crew had all quit due to encounters with spirits. While that declaration made Zuko a bit upset at the crew, he couldn’t exactly blame them for wanting to escape the crazy that was his life.

The man was stubborn though, and thoroughly disliked the idea of spirits keeping him from doing the things he wanted to do, like buying the  _ Wani. _ The man was probably determined to buy the  _ Wani _ out of spite, now. Zuko’d just have to try harder, then. They really needed this man to go away and leave the ship alone, since Nana couldn’t work on the runes when they were touring the ship, out of fear of discovery.

After Zuko’s increasingly blatant attempts to get the man to piss off and leave the  _ Wani _ alone, he’d reached the breaking point when the man mentioned hiring an exorcist to ‘purify’ the ship of any potential spirit ‘taint’. That made him mad on multiple levels, since the man was indirectly insulting Nana’s very existence. They didn’t ‘taint’ anything, and that comment had caused Zuko to run out of both patience and mercy concerning this man.

Time to crank the spooky up to eleven. Zuko slammed doors and left fully-visible scratches into the walls of the hallways. He made the most threatening noises he could and enlisted Nana’s help in making the shadows seen both bigger and darker than they should’ve been. He wrote threatening messages on the walls in the blood of animals Nana hunted for their dinners. 

The. Man. Just. Would. Not. _Leave!_ He was thoroughly in denial and it was pissing Zuko off. Fine then, Zuko was fresh out of fucks to give at this point. He was much too invested in getting the  _ Wani _ back just to let this bastard ruin everything!

* * *

After several days, Nana had finally finished the runes and they’d conducted a small test that morning. The runes worked and the Crystal Heart now powered the ship. All that was left was to steal the paperwork and they could leave, but Zuko was holding a grudge against the bastard that made the whole process take this long in the first place. 

Zuko was camped out in the dockmaster’s office, hidden in the shadows on the high-ish ceilings. He clung upside down to the ceiling using the powers the Mantis Claw had granted him, and he waited, motionless. His timing and performance had to be perfect.

While Zuko was going to be busy stealing the papers, Nana was gathering supplies to stock the ship for the two of them. Aside from taking the  _ Wani  _ back, which was rightfully his, Zuko still didn’t like the idea of stealing. It was dishonorable, so Nana left small piles of Geo as compensation for the stolen goods.

The man and the dockmaster entered the office, completely oblivious to Zuko’s presence on the ceiling. The men chatted for a while before the dockmaster unlocked the documents safe and retrieved the  _ Wani’s _ paperwork. He retrieved a formal stamp set and a fancy nib pen and a small pot of ink for the man to sign the paperwork with.

_ Showtime. _

Just as the man reached for the pen and inkpot, Zuko allowed a low, threatening hiss to escape him and allowed a bit of drool to escape his mouth to drip on the desk next to the man’s outstretched hand. The saliva bubbled and hissed when it came into contact with the desk, before it began to eat into the wood itself, smoking slightly. His spit was somehow acidic. That was new.

Zuko hadn’t expected that to happen, but he quickly shoved that new info to the side so he wouldn’t mess up his performance.

Both men looked up to see where the strange liquid had come from and spotted Zuko’s form stretched out, clinging to the ceiling like a gecko-frog. They both shot up out of their chairs, knocking them over in the process. 

Zuko allowed himself to detach from the ceiling and fall toward the desk. He twisted around in midair like a pygmy-puma and landed in a four-point crouch on the desk, knocking over the inkwell and sending the stamps flying to the ground, but making sure that the papers themselves weren’t damaged.

He let out another bone-rattling hiss and turned his furious red gaze onto the man trying to purchase  _ his ship. _

“How  _ dare _ you…” He said lowly. “I gave you every opportunity to leave peacefully and you refussed my warningss! I am done with idle threatss.”

“W-what?” The man’s eyes were wide with fear, and Zuko felt the First Flame, or rather, the Nightmare Heart, pulse with extra power at all the fear in the air.

“That sship iss mine! It wass alwayss mine and you can’t have it!” Zuko said emphatically, territoriality rising in his chest. He bared his fangs and flared the Nightmare Heart above his head brighter before spreading his ethereal wings wide in a blatant threat display. He was well and truly pissed off now.

While the dockmaster cowered in terror of the angry spirit in the middle of his office, Zuko’s declaration seemed to snap the other man out of whatever fearful trance he’d been in. “You can’t do that! I paid for it fair and square!”

Zuko couldn’t believe the gall of this man! His rage reached new heights, and he felt some unknown muscle in his throat flex. Zuko realized what was about to happen only a split second before it did, and he angled his head slightly to the side before a spray of acid shot out of his mouth and hit the wall beside the indignant man, just barely missing his face. Zuko resolved to ask Nana what the hell that was and was wrong with his spit later.

The wall began smoking before a large hole was eaten into the stone. The wall was thankfully quite thick, so it wasn’t dissolved all the way through to the other side, but it was a close thing. 

That seemed to make the man realize exactly how precarious his situation was. 

“Next time I won’t misss,” Zuko lied. “Leave thiss place and never return. I will not warn you again.” Without waiting for the man’s reply, Zuko turned around and snatched the papers off the desk before he turned to glare at the man one more time and hiss again. Zuko then activated the one-way teleport he had prepared earlier, with Nana’s help.

To the men, it looked as though the furious spirit had simply burst into scarlet flames before vanishing, along with the various papers regarding the sale and ownership of the  _ Wani. _

The men shared a look before they both simultaneously bolted for the exit. Perhaps it was time for a vacation. They’d heard that Gaipan was supposed to be nice this time of year. 

* * *

_ “I’ve got the paperss! Go, go, go!” _ Zuko shouted.

Nana hit a pink glowing symbol on the wall next to the wheel of the ship. A low bass humming started up before bright pink runes lit up all over the cabin’s walls and all over the interior and exterior of the ship before fading again.

With a sudden lurch that nearly knocked the both of them over, the  _ Wani  _ swiftly pulled away from the pier, docking ropes already cut. Faster than any ship before it, the newly improved  _ Wani _ sliced through the waves and sailed away from the town at a truly impressive pace, water shooting up from behind the ship’s propellers in a large spray, a pink glow visible from underneath the water.

Zuko let out a whoop of excitement as he saw the  _ Wani _ shooting away from the port. The town soon disappeared beyond the horizon and he and Nana shared a triumphant laugh. They’d done it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D :D :D
> 
> i want to thank the Alien franchise for the inspiration of the office scene, one of the most terrifying movie series I've ever had the dubious pleasure of watching. i am a self proclaimed weenie when it comes to horror movies, and the only reason I watched them at all was because i lost a bet, and then i lost another bet and had to play Alien Isolation for a minimum of 10 hours total. i hate all my friends, they suck :D
> 
> jk, but for real, the dockmaster had to go change his pants after that. we're coming up on a new story arc of ghost and zuko's misadventures across the world.


	24. Interlude: Zhao

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update let's gooooo!! Make sure you read Ch23 before this one, or you'll spoil yourself!

Commander Zhao listened with rapt interest as the soldier he’d ordered to buy the Prince’s ship described a close encounter of the spirit variety. Apparently, some kind of fire-spirit had declared the ship as theirs, and was furious when it looked like it was going to be bought by someone else.

The man described the escalating scare-tactics that led up to the confrontation in the dockmaster’s office with no small amount of fear. The noises, slamming doors, and unnaturally moving shadows, along with the messages written in blood on the walls.

Zhao was privately quite impressed with the man’s fortitude. He was determined to fulfill Zhao’s orders, and only stopped when a spirit had threatened him with death or perhaps something worse. Zhao quietly made a note to promote the man, or otherwise reward him. Zhao appreciated that kind of dogged determination to fulfil his orders.

Zhao could hardly believe his ears when the man described the spirit itself. It wore a cloak made of shadows and had imposing horns and glowing red eyes. It had a small ball of scarlet fire that it seemed to wear like a crown, but what really grabbed Zhao’s attention was that the spirit had a large, odd marking over its left eye. A suspiciously familiar marking.

The spirit had to have some connection with the Prince, or perhaps it  _ was _ the Prince, playing host to some kind of possession. It would explain the strange glowing shield that had protected the boy during their Agni Kai. A spirit surely wouldn’t want its host body to be damaged too badly, so it had protected him from Zhao’s sneak attack.

Perhaps the strange black orb had been the spirit’s true form? Zhao wasn’t sure, he didn’t have enough information, and he couldn’t even go investigate the Prince’s ship himself, since the spirit had made off with the ship after it had almost killed the man in the dockmaster’s office!

Somehow, the spirit controlled the ship all by itself using some kind of magic, and the ship had blasted away from the port faster than a marlin-shark. Zhao didn’t know what was going on, but he would get to the bottom of it. 

Zhao dismissed the soldier after he had gotten all the useful information out of the man, before reaching under his desk to pull a cleverly hidden latch. A secret compartment popped open on the side of his desk, and Zhao retrieved the various scrolls held within.

He handled them carefully, for they were centuries old. He’d stolen these from the spirit library itself and escaped its vicious steward, right after burning whatever knowledge Wan Shi Tong had on the Fire Nation, to prevent others from potentially using that knowledge against his glorious homeland.

Zhao would see himself, and by extension the Fire Nation, rise to glory above all the other lesser nations. His plan to kill the moon spirit and be remembered by history for all time was slowly coming together, and soon, it would be time to lay siege to the Northern Water Tribe and destroy them like they had its sister tribe in the South.

But before that, Zhao had a different spirit to catch. His eyes scanned over the many feet of ancient parchment before him, eyes shining madly in the flickering candlelight. 

A horridly complex set of bizarre runes set in concentric circles and triangles stretched across the strange parchment. 

Though Zhao could not fully understand the intricacies of the text, he had successfully translated the title and a majority of the instructions for the arcane rituals he’d stolen from the spirit library, after many sleepless nights. 

Zhao had also managed to steal a small vial containing a shining, white liquid from the library as well. He didn’t quite know what it was, but he had a feeling it was finally going to come in handy.

He’d found the gigantic scroll in the furthest depths of the oldest archives, a strange place filled with scrolls made from silk and tubes full of a vivid green substance. 

Zhao’s fevered eyes drank in the forbidden knowledge he’d spent months translating. It was all going to pay off soon.

> **_Seals of Binding and Their Uses: A Compendium_ **
> 
> _ By: The Soul Master, Head of the Soul Sanctum _

  
  


He eyed the sketch the soldier had provided upon Zhao’s orders. He vowed to capture and control whatever spirit abomination the Prince had become, if it was the last thing he ever did.

Little did Zhao know that it would, in fact, be the last thing he ever did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, you know the minor glimpses of how spirit obsessed zhao is in the series? in this story its worse, guys its so much worse. zhao is gonna go full-bore crazy before he gets whats coming to him, and i cant wait to write those scenes i have planned. bad things happen guys, like, maybe-have-to-up-the-rating bad things *creepily whispers* (baaaaad thiiiiings...!)


	25. The Great Divide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAHAHA!! We're finally on our way to my favorite arc! Have some delicious conflict! it's been a while since we've seen the gaang, wonder what they're up to... >:D

Zuko and Nana debated on where to park the ship, and eventually decided on sailing it all the way back to the coast nearest to the Southern Air Temple. They thought about Whaletail Island, but Zuko claimed that there was a small Fire Nation Presence there, so there was a chance that someone might bumble onto the hidden  _ Wani _ by accident.

It took hardly any time at all to sail all the way across the Mo Ce Sea compared to before. They thankfully didn’t encounter any ships on their way back, and the sea was free of storms for the time being.

They found the small bay that Zuko had anchored the  _ Wani  _ in during his first visit to the Southern Air Temple. They did the same thing again, and Zuko inscribed a threatening message on the door in glowing Soul-infused lettering.

_ Property of the Scarlet Spirit, trespass and suffer a thousand curses _

Nana had, in fact, inscribed more Soul-runes into the hull of the  _ Wani _ to protect it from storms and foolish idiots alike, so Zuko felt comfortable leaving the ship there.

* * *

The pair returned to the Dream Realm to rest for a few days and plan out their next moves. They had no idea where Iroh was, only that he had, at one point, made port at a town renowned for housing ships and people of dubious repute. Iroh had sold the ship because the crew all quit, and after that they had no idea where Iroh had gone.

They debated on what to do over dinner that night. Nana had made a delicious rabbit-pheasant stew, and Zuko was greatly enjoying it, even if it had none of the mouth-burning spiciness of normal Fire Nation Cuisine.

_ “Dear Heart, I think I may have an idea!” _

_ “What iss it?” _

_ “Well, the problem is that we don’t know where Iroh is, yes? And he has no idea where we are. What we need is a way to let him know where we are, or where we will be at a given time.” _

_ “And how are we going to get that information to him if we don’t know where he iss? Messenger Hawks can’t deliver mail to someone if they don’t have a destination!” _

_ “We must advertise our presence, but in a way that will go unnoticed by the average passerby. So, I had a thought, ‘what sort of place is renowned for the unusual, travels around but advertises their route, and readily accepts new members of unusual bearing?’ The answer: the circus!” _

Zuko almost choked on his food at that announcement.  _ “You want uss to join the circuss?!” _

_ “Yes, but a traveling theater troupe could work as well. Spells are flashy and can be easily altered to produce different effects, we look quite unusual, and we have many skills that would make for a dazzling spectacle! The circus is already renowned for the strange and unusual, and theater means elaborate costumes, so perhaps our appearances wouldn’t stand out as much?  _

_ If we do well enough, our performances will be advertised, and word will spread, so Iroh would have a higher chance of hearing about us or seeing a schedule poster. Then, all he has to do is wait at a location where we are scheduled to stop, and we’ll have found him! We can travel back to the Wani through the Dream Realm and we’d all be together again!” _

Zuko gaped at the ridiculous plan Nana was detailing. It was brilliant, in a sort of mad-genius kind of way. It also helped that Zuko knew Uncle loved the circus, and also knew that Uncle knew of his secret love of theater, and so he would be more likely to pay attention to those sorts of posters. Nana’s abilities were quite distinctive, so if Uncle heard rumors about two new performers with similar abilities, he’d probably come running.

_ If Ty Lee can run away and join the circus, then so can I! _ He thought, laughing in the privacy of his own mind.

_ “That ssoundss jusst crazy enough to work! Oh, that remindss me, I uh, think I can sspit acid now. I found out when I sstole the paperss from the dockmasster. I almost blassted that one guy who wass going to buy the Wani on accident. Do you know what that’ss all about?” _

_ “Really? Can I see?” _

_ “Uh, ssure. It’ss pretty potent though, it melted through sstone like it wass nothing!” _

Nana followed Zuko to the exit of the Burrow and the pair emerged outside. Nana materialized a large granite cube a few feet in front of them for Zuko to demonstrate on.

_ “I uh, haven’t ever tried to do it intentionally, so thiss may take awhile.” _

It did, in fact, take several minutes of Zuko flexing every muscle in his throat and neck, resulting in some fairly hilarious noises, but he eventually found the right one after he started to get frustrated with the lack of progress.

He felt his rising anger and frustration start to put pressure on his throat. No, wait, that was just the acid spit activating. A weird muscle behind his tonsils flexed, and a spray of acid exited his open mouth and splashed against the stone cube. Within seconds, a large chunk of it had melted away.

_ “...Well, I guess Isma’s Tear did do something after all! I wonder if it did the same to me and I just never noticed because my small Vessel form lacked a mouth? In any case, this is interesting! It doesn’t appear to be on all the time, or you would have melted through your eating utensils by now.” _

_ “I think it might be tied to my emotionss? It only activated after I got angry both timess, and I’ve never been angry when I’ve been eating.” _

_ “Hmm...that makes a bit of sense, my Void is always more active when I’m feeling extreme emotions, good or bad, so who’s to say your acid doesn’t work the same way?” _

Zuko experimented with it for a little longer, but stopped when it became harder and slightly painful to call the acid up. Nana said it was probably because he had a finite amount of acid and he’d used most of it up practicing, like an animal’s venom.

They’d spent the rest of the day practicing their control over the Dream Realm. Nana was capable of large-scale reality warping, and so was Zuko, although to a much lesser degree. 

It turns out, it was actually possible to create food in the Dream Realm, but it didn’t actually provide much nourishment, being made of Dream Essence and all. Eating Dream-created food was a fun way to refill on Dream Essence for spells and manipulations outside the Dream Realm, but not much else.

Nana had decided to make large, floating, pink masses that resembled clouds but pulled apart like loose cotton that was sticky and sweet and melted in the mouth when it was eaten. Nana called it ‘cotton candy’ and it was apparently a popular confection at fairs and circuses back when their homeland was still around. 

They’d also made the cotton candy masses fly in the air like clouds and made them rain a brown substance that was creamy and also sweet. Nana had called that ‘chocolate milk’. Zuko had no idea what chocolate was, and Nana had seemed shocked when he told them so.

They’d immediately conjured up another food item, this time it was a solid block of ‘chocolate’. It wasn’t totally solid though, and it melted into a sticky, brown sludge if he held it in his hands for too long. 

Chocolate tasted unlike anything else Zuko had ever had before; it was cloyingly sweet and it seemed to stick to his teeth when it melted in his mouth, but he rather liked it. Nana had warned him that if they ever managed to find any in the Real World, he shouldn’t eat too much of it, since it could make him ill from all the sugar.

Other than creating a variety of strange food weather, Nana also had great fun absolutely usurping the laws that had imposed themselves on the Dream Realm in their absence. Nana said that the realm was supposed to always be like their own little corner of chaos, constantly changing and shifting at the speed of thought.

They made the ground randomly break apart and reform when someone got near it, they changed the gravity at random and had waterfalls flow the wrong ways. They even created a massive rent in the ground that opened up into a vast expanse of silvery clouds and never-ending space, like how the Dream Realm had looked in their memories, only silver instead of gold hued. 

It was essentially a cloud-filled bottomless pit, though Nana claimed the Dream Realm had an end if one fell far enough, but that one would just be booted back into the Real World after ‘falling through’ the bottom layer of clouds. 

It had never been an issue before, since the Dream Realm had developed a solid floor at some point, but it did lead back to the Real World if one burrowed far enough, sometimes. That seemed to be an inconsistent thing though, and that point was ridiculously far down.

Zuko, on the other hand, had fun doing impossible things with his fire and the surroundings. He created trees that appeared to constantly be on fire, but never burned down, and made creatures of living flame. They pranced and flew and slithered around, exploring their strange new reality. The subtle pulsing of a beating heart could be heard constantly in the background. Nana had loved that, too. Said it was nostalgic.

Nana had also loved the flaming trees, and immediately requested that Zuko do the same to the tree that grew on top of the Burrow. He did so, and Nana flew up and decorated the now-flaming branches with balls of shifting shadow and shining orbs of silver light.

With each of their alterations, the air of the Dream Realm seemed to shift and truly breathe for the first time in a long time. Zuko hadn’t even noticed how stale the air had felt before.

They had truly made a mess of their surroundings, but strangely, things felt better this way, more natural, in a weirdly paradoxical fashion.

* * *

The next day they decided to return to the real world in the same clearing where they had met Dabi, the traveling blacksmith. Now that Nana had been to places in the Real World, it was much easier to open portals to familiar locations. The more they messed with the Dream Realm, the easier it became for them to manipulate it.

* * *

They decided to fly over the countryside, searching for a traveling circus or theater troupe to join up with. Zuko probably would have objected more to the turtle-hare-brained scheme if he’d had any better ideas on how to find Uncle.

As they flew, they came upon various travelers and small towns. While the flying duo left them to their own devices for the most part, if they seemed to be struggling, they often stopped to provide aid. Mostly in secret, but sometimes they revealed themselves in order to help.

When they had flown over a settlement Nana had identified as Gaipan, they insisted on stopping and secretly carving Soul-runes on the nearby dam. While Zuko was only a beginner when it came to reading Soul-runes, he could see large sections dedicated to redistributing sudden force and magically reinforcing the wooden structure against fire and large impacts. 

When asked, Nana had simply said that the dam had been blown up by the local ‘Freedom Fighters’ in the other timeline, because the town had been under Fire Nation occupation at the time. When the dam exploded, the town had flooded and everything had been washed away. Zuko had been horrified at that, but Nana had said that the Avatar’s team had helped evacuate the town, so no one had died, but all the villagers had lost their homes and possessions. 

Nana had no idea if the same set of events would happen now, but better safe than sorry, they said. Zuko agreed; there were Fire Nation soldiers and Earth Kingdom non-combatents living in that town!

The idea of someone willfully killing dozens of innocent civilians just to win a very minor victory over the Fire Nation disgusted Zuko, and Nana agreed. Zuko resolved to punch this ‘Jet’ character in the face if he ever ran into the other boy.

* * *

They’d spent days after that just flying, enjoying the sheer freedom flight offered. Zuko had come to understand the Air Nomad philosophy a lot better in recent weeks; before, he’d thought the monks a bit lazy and too carefree to take anything worldly seriously, too focused on the spiritual. Now, he knew that they simply let things come and go, adapting to the shifting winds of life.

He could understand wanting to become detached from the worldly, a part of him just wished this meandering adventure with Nana would go on forever, but the other, larger part of Zuko wished to find Uncle and figure out what to do about the war. He had no idea where he stood on it quite yet.

Agni condemned the war, but his father supported it. His father was abusive and Zuko would never be happy trying and failing to earn his ‘love’, but Zuko had spent his whole life completely loyal to him and desperately trying to please the man. 

Turning his back on his father completely was a frightening idea, simply because he didn’t know how to do anything else. From Nana’s stories of the once-future, his father had declared him a traitor to the Fire Nation, and the thought of his people thinking he betrayed them tore at him something fierce.

Nana didn’t like the war either, but said they would support him in whatever he desired to do. Zuko was conflicted deeply about this. He didn’t quite know what Uncle thought of the war, either. 

On the one hand, Uncle had been the highest-ranked General in the Fire Nation’s army, but on the other, he had suddenly quit after Lu Ten had died during the siege of Ba Sing Se.

He’d decided to come with Zuko on his quest completely unprompted, but had never seemed overly supportive of Zuko’s quest to search for the Avatar. That had caused a lot of internal conflict in Zuko, and had been a large part of why he never really trusted Iroh. 

Nobody except Nana had ever wanted Zuko just for Zuko. They all wanted something, but Zuko wasn’t sure what Uncle wanted from him. He resolved to ask about that and more when they finally tracked him down.

* * *

After about a week and a half, they’d flown over a vast canyon, which looked incredibly beautiful and absolutely massive from their aerial viewpoint. Zuko had been amazed and had wanted to explore it a bit, maybe practice climbing on the steep cliffs, so they had stopped for the day to let their wings rest.

Nana had made sure to warn him about the Canyon Crawlers, but had told Zuko that they were only really attracted to the scent of food or a dead carcass. They were more like scavengers than true predators, so Zuko could easily scare them off with a little fire.

Zuko almost wished that one would choose to pick a fight with him, he was feeling a bit peckish and he wondered if they tasted any good. With hardly anything flammable found this deep in the dry canyon, he could finally really let loose with his flame, or maybe get to truly test out his new swords.

* * *

Ghost carved out a small cave, high into the side of a cliff for them to sleep in before setting up a nest by lining a depression in the cave floor with their fluff while Zuko explored and climbed over every rock and ledge.

Ghost had been so pleased to see Zuko being a kid and letting himself have fun, so they let him be for the moment. He didn’t need Ghost hovering over them every second of every day, after all. That would only make him feel trapped, and that was the last thing they wanted. Ghost figured a small nap couldn’t hurt and drifted off to sleep in the newly constructed nest.

* * *

Zuko was having a gloriously fun time climbing  _ everything _ . The satisfaction of sitting on top of a rock spire, knowing he’d climbed it with his bare hands was like nothing else. He loved the Mantis Claw, seriously, he was never taking it off...ever.

He leaned back and watched the endless blue sky stretch out above him, knowing that he could spread his wings and explore that, too. The Nightmare Heart beat softly in his mind and out loud. A warm sort of contentedness washed over him and a rumbling sort of purr built in his chest, sounding like a happy tigerdillo.

* * *

After a bit of basking, he heard the sounds of people arguing in the distance. He’d noticed that his senses were enhanced slightly when he wore his mask, his hearing especially. Something about how his horns could sense changes and vibrations in the air, Nana explained. 

That, coupled with the way the canyon amplified all kinds of sounds, Zuko is sort of surprised he didn’t hear the people sooner. He spread his wings and flew toward the source of the noise, curious as to what people were doing in such a desolate place.

He landed high up on a rock spire and crouched down, drawing his Shade Cloak around him to blend into the shadows cast by the tall rock column. He saw a large gathering of two very different tribes arguing, but what really caught his attention was the fact that the Avatar’s little group was with the bickering tribes.

He sort of lurched forward toward the Avatar in an involuntary reaction left over from his obsessive years of hunting for the boy. He soon restrained himself and felt disgusted over his own behavior. The Avatar was but a child, and he didn’t even want to imagine what sort of horrors the Fire Lord would inflict on him. 

Zuko no longer needed to capture the Avatar to return home to restore his honor and earn his father’s love, because besides returning to the Fire Nation, he got everything else from Nana. He didn’t need to run himself into the ground trying to earn something that shouldn’t have to be earned in the first place.

He simply hunkered down and watched the two tribe leaders have a sword duel. Just when it was starting to get good, the Avatar jumped in and blew everyone over with a harsh gust of wind to stop the fight.

Small packages of food flew out of people’s rumpled clothes and long sleeves to scatter on the ground. Zuko jerked at the sight. All that food would surely attract Canyon Crawlers by the dozens!

Sure enough, soon after the food was scattered, dozens of Canyon Crawlers, well, crawled out of the proverbial woodwork, attracted by the scent of food. By the looks of things, the one earthbender in the group, the canyon guide probably, had injured arms. They didn’t quite look broken from what Zuko could see, but he certainly wouldn’t be bending with them anytime soon.

None of the other tribesmen seemed to be capable of bending, and though the Avatar was a master-level airbender, even he couldn’t fend off all the beasts and protect everyone at the same time. The waterbending girl was almost useless in such a dry environment, and her brother didn’t even bear mentioning.

Zuko had to step in and help, or they’d all be slaughtered. 

_ Guess I’m getting that fight, after all. _ He thought to himself.

He leapt off the rock spire and announced his presence with a challenging screech at the Canyon Crawlers. He cast a Desolate Dive spell and impacted the ground in front of the Crawlers like a meteor. The beasts slowed down, but did not stop their charge.

Zuko drew the Suneaters and channeled Nightmare Flame down the blades. They burst into flame and he held them out to the sides threateningly. He let out a bone-rattling hiss in challenge.

Various exclamations of surprise or horror sounded off from behind him, but Zuko ignored them all, focused on the approaching tide. When the swarm got close enough, Zuko inhaled deeply and roared out fire and fury.

Beasts made of scarlet fire and fueled by the fear of the crowd behind him blazed into existence from his breath. They burnt the first few Crawlers, and one even went down and the rest of the fire beasts descended upon it, flames devouring it as it screamed. Zuko Shadow Dashed at the nearest Crawler before he stabbed it in the face. 

He felt Soul begin to saturate the air as more of the Crawlers were injured or killed and he greedily absorbed every last drop he could. He lost himself to the rhythm of the fight, stabbing and slashing the giant beasts, with the occasional fire breath thrown in for good measure.

The Crawlers were scavengers at heart, though, and once Zuko proved to be too much of a threat to risk fighting over a meal, the rest of the Crawlers swiftly retreated in fear. Zuko shrieked at them one last time before wiping his blades clean on the fur of one of the dead Crawlers before storing them in the wood and Soul-silk sheath Nana had made for him. 

He turned to face the dead-silent group of travelers. At their looks of fear and horror, he snorted and tossed his horned head like a scorned ostrich-horse. The Avatar started at the noise and moved to defend the group. He brandished his staff at Zuko. Typical. He saves everyone’s asses and  _ he’s _ the monster.  _ Sure. _ Whatever.

“You’re  _ welcome _ , Avatar,” Zuko said scornfully. He turned to walk away, ready to go back to Nana and sulk at everyone’s ungratefulness. Really, he showed up and proceeded to be a total badass that just saved them all single-handedly, and this is what he gets.

Surprisingly, the Avatar’s defensive stance faltered at that announcement.

“Zuko…?” The Avatar breathed. The Avatar’s companions started upon hearing that and began demanding answers.

Zuko wanted to facepalm at that. His stupid scar-mark gave him away to everyone who knew his human face. 

“Yeah, it’ss me. What the hell do you want? Make it quick, I’ve got placess to be.”

The Avatar’s little group all blanched at that announcement, but the tribesmen all looked confused.

“What happened to you? Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine. Better than ever, actually. And what happened to me iss none of your businesss!” Zuko hissed.

“You got turned into a spirit! You’re not being held hostage by the other one or anything, right?!” The Avatar said, looking like he wanted to run over and make sure Zuko was actually alright.

“What? Nana issn’t holding me hosstage!” Came Zuko’s indignant cry.

“Nana?!” Sputtered the Water Tribe boy, “You call that giant spirit monster ‘Nana’?!”

Zuko took a threatening step towards the boy, claws splayed, absolutely furious.  _ No one _ insulted Nana and got away with it. He was starting to regret stepping in and saving them.

“Come a bit closser and ssay that again,” He purred.

Zuko opened his mouth and spat a shot of acid just short of the group. They exclaimed in surprise and quickly took several steps back from the new bubbling, smoking hole in the ground.

Zuko’s eyes flared brighter and he bared his fangs at the boy.

“I fucking  _ dare you _ .”

Silence for several moments. The boy was clutching at that stupid boomerang, like it would save him if Zuko decided to revoke his breathing privilages.

“Avatar, perhaps it’s best to not antagonize the spirit capable of taking on two dozen Canyon Crawlers without a scratch?” Came the voice of the leader of the cleaner and better-dressed tribe.

Zuko snorted again and walked over to the fallen body of a Canyon Crawler and drew one of his swords. He sliced off a large chunk of meat from the creature’s side in one swipe and wrapped it up in Soul-silk he spun on the spot like a spider-fly, as a sort of makeshift bag. He slung the new bag of meat over his shoulder to make it easier to carry. He glanced over at the Avatar and noticed that the boy looked vaguely green in the face at the sight of all the blood. 

_ That’s right, the Air Nomads were all vegetarians. _ Zuko remembered.

Just to be a bit of a dick and freak him out further, Zuko brought the flat of his sword’s blade to his mouth and licked the blood off of it with his abnormally long tongue. 

He chittered a laugh at the horrified and disgusted expression on the Avatar’s face, though everyone there seemed to share a similar opinion. Bunch of weak-stomached babies. 

He spread his wings, enjoying the shouts of surprise as he took to the air.

“Next time, you can save yourselves,” He added as a parting shot, before he zipped off to go find Nana and the cave. He wondered if Canyon Crawler tasted anything like pig-chicken, and was eager to try some.

Nana would probably enjoy inventing scathing commentary of the Avatar’s group with Zuko over the food. 

* * *

The Avatar’s group and the tribes all made their way out of the canyon in relative silence. No one had any real idea of how to react to the newest revelation of Zuko being a spirit now, or that he apparently called the larger one ‘Nana’. 

He seemed very defensive about the other spirit, threatening to melt Sokka into a puddle with some kind of acid-spitting ability over a relatively minor insult.

The tribes glared at each other the whole time, but didn’t say anything else. They collected their sick and injured and soon parted ways. The canyon guide decided to go with the Zhang tribe instead of staying at the canyon for a second longer than he had to.

You’d think someone who’d traveled that canyon so many times wouldn’t be afraid of it or its fauna anymore, but given the recent encounter, no one could blame him for booking it when the going was good.

  
  


* * *

Although Aang hadn’t eaten all day, he didn’t have much of an appetite at dinner that night. His mind was still replaying the encounter with Zuko over and over again, and he couldn’t get over how different the teenager was. Though, Aang supposed, being turned into a spirit would change anybody, personality-wise.

The sheer power he felt rolling off of the spirit-teen was indescribable. To Aang’s more spiritual senses, the teen actually felt less angry and obsessive than he had before, but his strange red fire felt like pure, condensed fear. Not the teen’s own fear, but the fear of others, like he drew power from it, or something.

Aang had never heard of a fire that fed off of other people’s fear, but then again, he’d never heard of someone being turned into a spirit like this before. Some people became spirits after they died, of course, but not living people!

Maybe that lent more credit to Aang’s theory that The Black Spirit wasn’t really a spirit at all, but something else, something dangerous.

At any rate, he probably didn’t have to worry about Zuko trying to capture him anymore. He’d had an absolutely golden opportunity to do so, and he just...hadn’t. Not one word about his honor or anything!

Aang didn’t know what to make of the whole thing, and after talking with Katara and Sokka, neither did they.

Aang stared down into his bowl of rice and vegetables, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat any of it. The memory of Zuko licking fresh blood off the blade of his sword was clear and vivid in his mind. Aang shuddered and pushed his food away. 

He wasn’t hungry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yessssss...moar eldritch!zuko, MOAR I SAY!! lol though for real, writing scenes where he freaks everyone out are my absolute fav! bonus points to anyone who can spot my itty bitty reference to another popular kids cartoon! 
> 
> Zuko's way more chill now than he was in the show, thanks to finally getting some validation from a parental figure he doesnt have a shit history with. he's conflicted over his stance on the war, b/c he loves his nation, but lingering baggage about ozai the shitlord is holding him back from his true chaos potential! he wants uncle's view on the war, since he seems to have been on both sides of pro vs anti war. he definitely doenst wanna capture aang anymore though, so all the episodes where he shows up in canon are gonna turn out a little bit or a lot different depending. i'll try to leave hints about stuff that happens 'off-screen' so you guys aren't totally left in the dark, but just assume that if i dont say anything about a particular episode, it played out mostly like canon. 
> 
> Also: gaipan is saved and no dams were exploded b/c ghost used their braincell for once and remembered that that was a thing that happened. ghost does not like jet, and neither does zuko, seriously, who tf wipes out a civilian town b/c it happens to be occupied by the enemy?? there were little kids living there! jet can go eat blasting jelly and im glad the freedom fighters prolly kicked him out after that. why else would he leave and only have his two most loyal with him in ba sing se?


	26. The Search for Mother (Spoiler Alert: They're right Next to You)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all aboard the angst train!! zuko already had a breakdown over ozai, now guess who's turn it is for zuko to be in emotional turmoil over?? hint: its not iroh
> 
> me: *pats zuko on the head* this bad boy can fit so much trauma in him!
> 
> audience: ooohhh! even flex tape can't fix that!
> 
> ghost: but i can! *smothers zuko with love*

Turns out Canyon Crawler did taste a bit like pork-chicken, only a bit stringier. The pair didn’t bother cooking it all that thoroughly, either, just enough to kill any parasites. Nana enjoyed raw meat and Zuko was getting used to it as well. It was interesting how different his palette was now. 

Before, the thought of eating raw meat would have turned his stomach, but now he was starting to prefer it raw. It just had more flavor when it wasn’t cooked.

Zuko was pretty sure his new preferences had to do with the fact that his dentition indicated that he was now very much a predator, though he could still eat fruits and vegetables and other such things. He just started to prefer a more meat-heavy diet, but he still enjoyed the occasional mango or vegetable stir-fry.

Nana often had the strangest ideas when it came to food, creating things Zuko had never heard of or tasted before, but were very good for the most part. They often complained about a lack of proper ingredients, but they were able to make due most of the time.

Zuko resolved to get them a proper kitchen, with all the amenities, if the war ever ended and he could go back to the Fire Nation without his father burning the other half of his face off. Not that Nana would let that actually happen, of course. If his father tried, Nana would punt him into the sun, where Agni would destroy whatever was left.

Man, that was an odd thought. Having people that would defend him like that was a novel feeling. Even odder that Agni, patron deity of firebending, personally liked him. He wondered how Uncle would react to that particular nugget of information.

* * *

They left the canyon shortly after Zuko’s encounter with the Avatar and found a dense forest on the other side of the canyon, closer to the coast. Nana had only freaked out a little when Zuko described the event. They could clearly see that he was fine, and Nana was very proud of the way he had handled the event.

He’d demonstrated his skills as a warrior and protected innocents, and gotten dinner taken care of in one fell swoop. Nana only regretted that they missed the entire fight, lamenting their lack of interesting fights so far, and sad that they hadn’t gotten to see Zuko in action.

It warmed something in Zuko to see Nana excited about seeing their skills. No one had ever really been proud of his accomplishments aside from his mother, but she’d disappeared when he was a kid.

Nana had dug another burrow into the side of a cliff, eyeing the clear sky and saying that there would be a storm soon.

_ “What are you talking about? There’ss not a cloud in the ssky!” _

_ “Use your senses, Dear Heart. Feel the air with your horns, can’t you sense it? The slight moisture, the building pressure? A storm is building in the sea, and it will likely travel to batter the coast. We must take shelter, and absolutely no flying once the rain starts. It is hard to fly in the rain, wet wings are even more delicate than dry ones.” _

Zuko looked surprised at the announcement but closed his eyes and tried to focus. True enough, now that he was looking for it, he could sense a strange pressure at the base of his horns. It wasn’t painful or anything, but it was there.

_ “Huh, you’re right...didn’t know my hornss could do that,” _ He muttered.

_ “Certain bugs from Hallownest had antennae, but a majority of them had horns instead. Although they were less sensitive, horns were much more durable and less prone to injury. They served the same purposes though. Hearing and changes to the air, as well as smell in some cases.” _

_ “I can ssmell using my hornss?!” _

_ “Actually, probably not, in your case. That was a rarer ability in horned individuals, and was the one area in which antennae were the superior option. You still breathe through your nose, yes? That part likely still does all the smelling for you.” _

_ “Uh, yeah, I’ve been meaning to assk about that, by the way. My massk doesn’t have nostrilss, like yourss doessn’t, but you breathe through your ssidess. How can I sstill breathe through my nosse when I don't really have one when I’m wearing my massk? I’m not breathing through my mouth, I can feel that much.” _

That brought Nana up short,  _ “You know, I’m not too sure. Perhaps there is a small section that is permeable to air? _ ”

_ “Huh, you finally don’t have an ansswer for ssomething? That’ss new,” _ Zuko teased slightly.

_ “Oh, hush! I may be older than the dirt you’re standing on and have dreamed of a future, but even I don’t know everything! No one does. It is what makes life so interesting! Why bother doing anything if you know it all already?” _

_ “Huh, I guesss that makess ssensse.” _

_ “Now, come help your poor, old Nana with dinner,” _ Nana teasingly ordered.

_ “Yess, ma’am,” _ Zuko replied in good humor.

* * *

Soon enough, a few hours later, a storm was raging full-force outside the cliffside burrow. The weather ward Nana had carved across the doorway made much more sense now. Though there was no physical door, the wind and rain was kept out by an invisible barrier, though it flared up white briefly whenever there was a particularly harsh gust of wind.

Zuko’s own intense body heat kept the relatively small burrow comfortably warm and he soon got tired of watching the storm and joined Nana in the fluff-lined nest.

It was too early for sleep, however, and Zuko’s mind began to wander in boredom.

A flash of lightning and the crash of thunder very close overhead startled him a bit. He was reminded of when he used to be scared of storms as a child, and his mother would sit on his bed and hold him, a lot like Nana was doing now, actually.

Zuko’s throat clogged with sudden emotion, and he couldn’t help but ask.

_ “Nana, I know you ssaid you don’t know everything, but do you know what happened to my mother?” _ He asked softly, sort of afraid of what the answer would be.

Nana stiffened and slowly turned Zuko around to face them in jerky motions.

The look on their face was indecipherable.

_ “In the future-that-isn’t, you go on a quest to find her, and you eventually succeed. Though the futures no longer match up, I doubt your mother’s fate has changed, for it happened shortly after she left. Dear Heart, I hesitate to tell you, for the answer would only upset you.” _

Zuko grew angry. They knew this whole time and didn’t tell him?!

_ “I have a right to know! Did you know thiss whole time and jusst not tell me?!” He shouted. “Is sshe...dead?” _ Zuko choked. He suspected for years, but did not ever know for sure.

_ “No, she is alive, but it is like she would be dead to you anyways. She does not remember you.” _

_ “What?” _ Zuko said in disbelief. His mother was alive this whole time but didn’t remember him...?

Ghost tried to recall the half-remembered comics created after the show had ended. ‘The Search’ it was titled, they remembered. The memories of them were especially fuzzy, because Ghost had only ever read them once and then never again, out of disgust for Ursa’s actions. The thought of a mother willfully choosing to forget her own children while she left them in the hands of an abusive egomaniac made them indescribably angry. 

She should have, at the very least, cherished and preserved the memories of her children, so that she might contact them once Ozai wasn’t Firelord anymore. She could have contacted Zuko once she got word of his banishment, it wasn’t like that fact was kept secret! Everyone knew he’d been banished, she could have written him letters or something _ \--anything! _ But no, she just chose to bail and forget all about them and start over with Ikem.

How dare a mother abandon her children like that! So completely and utterly forsake them, that they don’t even want to remember them at all! Poof! Like they never existed! Gone, forgotten, by the one supposed to love them most of all! How  _ dare _ she!

Ghost was steaming mad at remembering Ursa’s actions all over again, but they kept the anger out of their voice while they explained. Zuko needed comfort and understanding right now, not anger.

_ “I will not lie to you, Dear Heart, I kept this from you because I wanted to spare you pain, but I would have always told you had you thought to ask. _

_ The memories are a bit fuzzy, but I recall the gist of what became of her. When Azulon told your father to kill you, Ursa found out about it somehow, I’m not sure on the specifics. She did love you enough to risk herself to save you. The only reason your father agreed to the plan to kill you was to become Firelord, as Azulon instructed. _

_ That same night, Ursa used her knowledge of botany and poisonous plants to poison Azulon’s afternoon tea. He died and your father ascended to power. Iroh was still in mourning over Lu Ten, and now his own father, and did not wish to take the throne. Your father could no longer trust that your mother would not also poison him, and so he banished her.  _

_ She traveled back to her homeland, a place called Hira’a, where she had lived before Ozai forced her to marry him. There, she discovered that her once-lover and childhood friend, a theater performer named Ikem, was still alive, though he had gotten a new face. Ikem revealed his identity to her and told her about the ‘Mother of Faces’, a spirit capable of giving people new faces, and was the mother of Koh, now that I recall. _

_ In order to escape Ozai realizing she did not leave the Fire Nation as ordered, she met with the Mother of Faces in a spirit-cursed valley where people can choose to forget their pasts forever. _

_ She received a new face from the spirit, and discarded her old one. The Mother of Faces offered to take away Ursa’s memories of the palace. Ursa agreed and chose to forget her memories of her time married to Ozai and the family she had with him, so that she could be happy living a new life with Ikem, unburdened by her past. She feared you would turn out to be just as evil as him without her there to temper his poisonous influence. _

_ In a way, she was partially right, for Azula had gone completely insane and had been hallucinating visions of her mother for weeks now, driven insane by losing the war and Ozai being defeated. She was violent and desired to kill Ursa, believing her to be plotting Azula’s downfall, like some kind of mastermind shadow leader.  _

_ Before your journey to find Ursa, she had been admitted to a mental hospital but had escaped and had somehow discovered scandalous letters Ursa wrote to Ikem while she was married to Ozai. Ozai had discovered the letters at some point and tried to have Ikem killed. He claimed to have succeeded, but he was lying. Azula eventually ran away into the cursed valley after failing to kill Ursa in her new guise and is not seen again. _

_ Back to the story, though. Ursa pleaded with the Mother of Faces, and her wishes were granted. She forgot everything about you and the children she abandoned and got a new face, but chose to remember Ikem, of course. She went on to live happily with him, and had another child with him.  _

_ In the future-that-isn’t, Ursa chooses to remember you after you tracked her down, and you manage to salvage some kind of relationship with her, but things were forever different from how they were in the past. I don’t remember anything past that. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more.” _

Zuko sat in stunned silence, taking everything in.

_ “Sshe chosse to jusst...forget me, and only wanted to remember after I confronted her…? Jusst like that, we never exissted to her? Azula goess crazy and dissappearss? She has another child? What?” _

Zuko was confused and was emotionally spiraling, thoughts running wild. Nana’s arms came around him and held him tightly.

_ “Though she was forced into marriage with Ozai, no mother should hold a child’s circumstances of birth against them. Children don’t ask to be born, and they cannot choose their parents. They are innocent of the crimes of their forefathers, and deserve love, always. _

_ She could have kept her memories and tried to contact you after Ozai was no longer in power, or after she got word you had been banished like she had been, but she didn’t. I cannot explain her actions or why she made the choices she did. I can only offer you my support and love, though it does not make up for what you lost. I’m so sorry, Dear Heart.” _

Zuko tried to say something,  _ anything _ , but he couldn’t formulate words of any kind. He could only cry and be held while his heart shattered into a million pieces as he learned of his mother’s willing abandonment.

_ Mother had another kid. One she actually loved, I guess. _ He thought.

~~_ (noonewantsme)(luckytobebornluckytobeborn)(nonotluckneverluckiamunlucky)(sheforgotme)(shedidn’tlovemeenoughtoremember)(abandoned)(forgotten)(unloved) _ ~~

His mind screamed and raged. He let out sobs and shrieks of anguish, but they were swallowed and taken away by the raging storm. 

His ears were ringing so loudly, the Nightmare Heart and his regular heart beat in sync, hummingbird-mouse fast in his mind and body. Nana rocked him. They were saying something, he realized. He strained to hear them above the thundering pulse in his head.

_ “I love you. I love you. It’s okay, you’re not alone. I’m here. I won’t forget you or abandon you. You are precious, Zuko. You are loved. You are so loved, baby. It’s alright. Everything will be okay. I’m here. Nana’s here.” _

Again, the cacophony of  **_[LOVELOVELOVE]_ ** screamed in his mind. Zuko sobbed more, but for a different reason this time. He cried and tried to pick up the shards of his broken heart. Nana loved him. Nana would put him back together. They always did. 

Soul and something else built in his chest. A bond snapped into place, strong and unwavering. It felt like the yawning Abyss, coming to pull him in and drown him, but in love. It felt like light. Like airy clouds and fleeting thoughts, each created with infinite care and understanding. It felt like love. It felt like Nana.

Zuko passed out shortly after, overwhelmed and exhausted. He went into the welcoming dark, knowing it would hold him like a precious thing and keep him safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, how bout that? ghost's version of events leaves a lot of stuff out and is a bit mixed up at points, but thats cause their memories arent the greatest, especially regarding the comics, which they read once a long time ago and then threw away in disgust. 
> 
> ghost has very strong feelings about parental abuse and abandonment, obvious reasons are obvious, so their bias comes through here a little bit, but their story is mostly correct. zuko falls apart again cause he always thought his mom loved him a lot and didnt leave him by choice, so him hearing that while she didnt leave by choice, she chose to forget him completely, which is way worse in his opinion. she also proceeded to have another kid and have a whole happy life in which she doesnt even remember him, which just broke something in him. i believe that zuko chose to restore his relationship with his mom in the comic because he's starved for maternal love, and even though iroh's great, he cant fill that massive void that ursa left in his life for so long.
> 
> in my story, zuko has an infinitely better maternal figure who definitely loves him above everything else, and regularly showers him in praise and love, so he's not nearly as desperate. he feels betrayed (rightly so, seriously i hate the search comic too, wtf ursa) and hurt, and he's not gonna go seek her out and drag her back into his life and ruin her peaceful life when zuko has ghost to fill the mom-shaped hole in his heart. ghost fits better in there, anyway. :) 
> 
> so ursa can stay in her blissfully ignorant corner and not appear in this story further, since she clearly doesnt want to be a part of her son's life anymore


	27. Heir to Eternity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fcking yeets another chapter at you all b/c i have no fcking self control, jfc. I basically post everything as soon as its done. this story has me by the short and curlies guys, i legit cant stop. i have to get my thoughts typed out or my anxiety goes nuts. its great for story development though, so eh? 
> 
> im taking breaks dont worry, but i also type pretty fast and when im this inspired to write, chapters only take me a few hours tops. lets just hope i can keep all my plot points consistent so i dont have massive plot holes or contradictions. if you guys notice any plz point them out politely in the comments. when the story is done i will probably go back and polish up all my previous chapters so theyre more internally consistent. again, first fic, so im bound to screw something up eventually. 
> 
> enjoy all the shit that goes down in this chapter, shit gets intense and im updating the tags again. also ive finally decided that this fic will be gen. im asexual but not aromantic, but i still cant write a believable romantic ship to save my life. i tried it out as a test recently. omg it was so fckin bad i deleted the whole thing in disgust. guys it was so bad plz do not ever ask me to write a romantic ship :(

Zuko awoke groggily the next morning. Nana was curled around him tightly, holding him close. The memories from last night came rushing back and he shed a single tear before ruthlessly shoving his emotions away. His mother chose to run away and forget him and Azula? Fine, he’ll let it stay that way. She’ll live her life, and Zuko could live his.

Honestly, aside from Uncle and a few other exceptions, humanity as a whole just seemed like it sucked. People sucked, emotions sucked, everything sucked. Well, except for Nana and Uncle. They were fine, but everybody else could leave him alone forever. Honestly, he kinda understood why spirits chose to stay in the Dream Realm.

People were awful.

He felt Nana start to wake up. They hadn’t moved at all and their incredibly slow breathing didn’t change, but he just knew, somehow. Zuko recalled the strange sensation in his chest from last night.

He centered himself and looked within, much easier now from all the practice he’s had with his Soul and Nightmare Flame. There, just below and behind the bottom tip of his sternum, sat a new connection. 

It felt dormant at the moment, but he could feel Nana’s sleepy presence coming from the other side. He’d ask about it later, he decided.

* * *

Nana awoke not long after. They sat up and drug Zuko up with them.

_“How are you feeling, Dear Heart? I know last night was intense.”_

_“That’ss one word for it…”_ Zuko muttered. _“I’m alright. I’m mosstly angry, though.”_

_“That’s completely understandable, Dear Heart. Do you want to talk more about it? If you don’t want to, that’s fine as well.”_

_“I jusst can’t believe sshe left me! Azula too! Jusst...decided to leave uss behind, even jusst the memories of uss!”_ Tears welled in his eyes, but he didn’t let them fall. Zuko didn’t want to waste the emotional energy on someone who clearly didn’t care about him anymore.

_“I am upset with her actions as well, but they say the best revenge in life is living well, so why don’t we forget about her for a while and go do something fun?”_

_“Thankss Nana, but I think I jusst want to be alone for a while. Think thingss over a bit more.”_

_“Of course Dear Heart, whatever you need. I suppose I’ll be out hunting for dinner, then. The storm might flare up again later, so come back if it starts raining, okay? I don’t want you getting sick!”_

_“Yess, Nana,”_ He dutifully answered. 

He went to the cave entrance and flew out into the forest. While he couldn’t use his fire for obvious reasons, he could still stalk something and kill it to vent his rage and pain. Breakfast had to come from somewhere, after all.

* * *

Zuko had managed to down a pheasant-squirrel, and debated cooking it for a minute before deciding not to.

 _“Fuck it. Not like it really matterss,”_ He grumbled, before skinning the animal with his claws. No matter his new palette, fur in his mouth was still nasty, and feathers were even worse. He ate the meat and enjoyed crunching on the brittle, hollow bones of the birdlike creature. He used a bone splinter to get bits of meat unstuck from in between his fangs. He discarded the offal and uneaten bones beside a bush. Some other scavenger would appreciate the free meal. 

He stared at the gore covering his hands, before licking it off. Not the best table manners, perhaps, but Zuko had been less inclined to observe human behaviors and niceties when they were inconvenient, lately.

He found a puddle of still, murky rainwater nearby and looked at his reflection for the first time in a long time.

His horns and eyes were just as imposing as he remembered them, and the dark tear marks and his bloodied fangs gave him a feral and dangerous look when he peeled his pseudo-lips back and bared them, chelicerae flaring out widely.

He looked like a dangerous spirit beast, and nothing like a human. Well, except for the rest of his body. He frowned before wriggling out of the Void-dyed silk shirt Nana had made for him.

Aside from the black plates on his neck and the bronze disk of the Mantis Claw on his chest, his torso looked very pale, but totally human. He frowned and tried to imagine himself with a body like Nana’s, all sleek armored plates and black flesh.

He wondered what it felt like to walk on legs like theirs, with the seeming extra joint that he knew was just an ankle. Nana stood on their toes like a dog-deer or eel-hound did. 

Zuko shifted to stand upright on the balls of his feet, as if he were sneaking. He felt a bit unbalanced so he hunched forward a bit. It was better, but he still knew that it wasn’t how a person was supposed to stand.

He huffed and replaced his top, a bit disappointed for a reason he could not identify. He was just glad he couldn’t see a lick of similarity between his mask and his human face, aside from the scar-mark. He didn’t want to be related to Ozai or Ursa anymore. Pain and suffering and cruelty and abandonment; that was the legacy his blood had left him. He didn’t want it.

He leaned back over the puddle and hesitated for only a moment before he removed his mask. He looked down at its empty eyes and shuddered. They looked wrong without his fire filling them. He glanced at reflection and forced his fire down so he could see his human face as unaltered as possible. He scowled at the traces of Ozai and Ursa he could see in the color of his eyes, the slope of his nose, the shape of his lips. 

His human face looked wrong, ugly. His scar just made the whole thing worse, the gnarled flesh distorting the shape of his left eye. He brought up a clawed hand and felt the hardened skin. No sensation from it, as usual. He liked it better when it was just a red mark around his eye like a puppy-kitten’s spots. 

His hair was shaggy and wild, hanging down around his forehead and ears is disarray. He shook his head violently and felt it move around his ears. He brushed a clawed hand through it, and was surprised by how soft it felt, almost like Nana’s fluff. He supposed he didn’t _completely_ hate his hair.

He tried to smile, but he’d never been the smiliest after he was banished, and now the expression just felt even more foreign on his features. His blunt teeth felt wrong too. His attempted smile just looked wrong. Everything about his human face felt totally wrong, except for his hair. He hated it.

He hissed at his reflection, and was surprised by how unaltered it sounded from when he had his mask on. He supposed he’d just gotten better at hissing and could now do it properly, even when he wore his human face. 

His real face was starting to feel more like the mask, and the mask more like his true self. He was slightly surprised by how unbothered he felt about this. He glanced once more at ‘Zuko the Human’, and decided he liked the sound of ‘Dear Heart the Spirit’ much better.

Zuko the Human had been abused and unloved by anyone, bar Uncle, maybe. He’d been pushed around and beaten down by everyone, and sent on an impossible quest. Zuko the Human had gotten half his face burned off for daring to try and save lives.

Dear Heart the Spirit had helped many people, and had a Nana who loved him for no other reason than that he existed. Dear Heart the Spirit was powerful and strong, and didn’t let people get away with hurting him, or people he cared about. Dear Heart the Spirit was free to do as he pleased, and no one controlled him!

He eagerly jammed the mask back on his face and felt a measure of relief when it went back on without issue. He decided he’d rather be Dear Heart the Spirit. Ursa had told him to never forget who he was, but then went and forgot of his existence entirely, so he wasn’t sure how sound that advice was anymore. He wasn’t forgetting who he was exactly, but he was moving on and leaving the burden of his past behind him.

Screw Ozai, screw Ursa, and screw the war! His people were dying over something pointless, and if he couldn’t help them by being their Prince, he’d help them as a friendly spirit instead! Dear Heart could help end the war, and Uncle could be Firelord, like he was always supposed to be!

Dear Heart stood up and went to find Nana. He had a favor to ask of them.

* * *

Ghost felt a new bond in a place that had been empty before. They looked inward and realized that they were now connected to Dear Heart in a way they hadn’t been before. Something profound had happened last night, but they just weren’t sure what.

If they focused, they could sense Dear Heart’s presence on the other side, going through a complex set of emotions. They backed off to give him some privacy. How very curious this new thing was! Ghost loved a good mystery and while this certainly qualified, for once it seemed to be something positive, so they wouldn’t complain.

They felt Dear Heart heading back to the cave, so Ghost hurried back to meet him there. They’d felt him fill with a powerful sense of determination before he began to return. They wondered what kind of decision he’d come to.

* * *

Dear Heart returned to find Nana already waiting for him. He barreled into them and captured them in a tight hug.

_“I love you, too. I don’t know if I ever ssaid it back, before, sso I’m doing it now. Thank you for caring. It’ss more than I’ve ever had.”_

Ghost was shocked to be hugged out of the blue, and also to hear those words leave the mouth of the teenager that often acted like he was allergic to emotions or affection. They shoved those thoughts to the side.

They trilled in happiness and hugged Dear Heart back. Happy tears of Void gathered in their eyes.

 _“You’re so very welcome, Dear Heart,”_ They said, voice tight with emotion.

* * *

Dear Heart could feel the new bond swell with love and happiness, and he basked in it. He was making the right decision, he was sure of it.

 _“I have a big favor to assk you,”_ He started. _“I’ve decided that I don’t want to be Prince Zuko, sson of Ozai and Urssa anymore. I’d rather be Dear Heart, sson of Ghost and nephew of Iroh, insstead. I know I’m technically already your grandson, but would you be okay with...a-adopting me? Formally?”_ Dear Heart asked, a bit nervous now.

* * *

Ghost was shocked speechless. Never in a million years would they have suspected those words to come out of his mouth. They stared down at him in disbelief, but endless love. 

_“I...would be honored,”_ Was all they could manage to get out. Fat, happy tears poured from their eyes. Ghost wondered if it was possible to die or maybe explode from feeling too happy.

They hugged their new son tighter, looking out over the dreary forest. 

No Gods or Demons or Spirits could save anyone who hurt their new family. Ghost would _erase_ anyone who dared to try.

* * *

Dear Heart felt like they could float away without wings or magic. Family, a _mother_ , a real one, who was _here_ , and wouldn’t leave. He started crying too, and the pair just sat on the ground of the cave, holding each other.

After nearly half an hour, Dear Heart spoke up again. He still had to ask about that favor, and a couple of other things as well.

_“I was thinking, ssince I don’t want to be Zuko anymore and you’re okay with a-adopting me...iss there anything you could do to make me look more like you? The massk is great and all, and I want to keep that, but the resst of me still looks like a normal human and...I don’t like it._

_I ssort of hate it, actually. It doessn’t feel right, anymore. Nothing feelss right anymore, except thiss,”_ He finished, patting at his sternum, right over where the bond sat, humming happily in his chest.

 _“I don’t have any artifacts that would change your body like that, but I could try and make one? No, I_ _will_ _make one, I swear it. I assume you mean a body like mine, yes? With chitin plates and real wings?”_ Nana asked.

_“Legss too, and maybe armss, if that wouldn’t be too hard?”_

_“Of course, Dear Heart.”_

_“And...could I call you Mother, insstead?”_

_“Of course, Dear Heart,”_ They said, significantly more choked up.

* * *

Ghost puzzled at this new problem before them. A head and neck was one thing, but this was a full-body transformation, with bones and organs having to shift around, a mere magical lattice wouldn’t cut it. They threw their ancient mind and vast magical knowledge at the problem like they never had before. This was more important than a mere hobby project or novelty spell. This was for their new family, their _son_! Gods, they could hardly believe it. 

After missing out on basically all of Grimmchild’s childhood and adolescence, they were ecstatic to get to be a parent again. _No one_ would hurt their boy. They’d make this the best goddamned artifact ever conceived. They’d make Dear Heart as close to indestructible as you could get. 

Intent was a big part of magic when you got down to it, but there were still rules and formulas that needed to be observed. No amount of intent or wishing would cast a successful spell if it didn’t have a solid framework.

Framework...hmmm, yes that might just work!

* * *

_“Dear Heart, I will need to see your mask for a bit. I think I know how to get this to work, but I’ll need your help.”_

_“What do you need me to do?”_ Dear Heart asked, removing his mask. He pointedly ignored the sensations of having a fleshy face and hair again.

_“I need to redo the Soul-runes in the mask and inscribe a few new ones. Then, I’ll need a bit of your blood. Not a lot! Just a cup or so. Then, when I finalize the spell and runes, you’ll have to channel your Soul into it while I do the same, and you’ll need to picture what you want your new body to look like. With a couple extra steps, it should then transform your whole body when you put it on, and you won’t need the Mantis Claw or the Monarch Wings anymore, everything will just be a part of you.”_

_“Would it sstill work like an artifact though? Like, I could remove it if I really, really needed to?”_

_“Of course. No one but you can remove the mask anyways, so it will be as permanent or temporary as you want. Now, let me remove the other artifacts. I don’t want their magic interfering and accidentally messing up the process.”_

Dear Heart dutifully turned around to let Mother remove the Monarch Wings. The process took only a few seconds, and he felt a profound sense of loss when the infinitesimal amount of Soul they drained to keep them out was no longer being taken.

He couldn’t feel them twitching and shifting against his back anymore. He felt vulnerable, like he was naked. He removed the Mantis Claw himself and mourned the hopefully temporary loss of his claws as well.

He felt so incredibly human and vulnerable in that moment that he had to dive into his connection with the Nightmare Heart to prevent an anxiety attack. It flared brighter above his head and he timed his breaths with the beating of the ethereal Heart in his ears.

* * *

Ghost eyed the shivering form of their son in the corner as he tried hard not to panic. They best make this quick, but they couldn’t afford a single mistake. It had to be perfect.

Nothing else would do.

Failure was unacceptable.

Their son was counting on them.

They dove into a world of Soul-runes and ancient Void-based magics like they never had before. They wove Dream and Void together in a way never before seen. Imagination and Unmaking. Creation and Destruction at their clawtips as they carved and carved. A Fleeting Moment and an Eternity existed side-by-side. They poured their love and hope into this singular, precious gift. 

They had no idea how long they had been at it, but when they surfaced from their determination-induced trance, the sun was well on its way to setting. Dear Heart had fallen asleep, or perhaps passed out in the corner.

Ghost rushed over and gently shook them awake. He did so groggily, but was soon wide awake when he realized what they were holding. 

* * *

Dear Heart awoke, disorientated, but he caught sight of the mask and sat ramrod straight from his spot on the floor.

“Is that…?” He breathed. The mask pulsed with power, small distortions visible in the air.

 _“Yes,”_ Mother answered. _“Once it is complete, it will answer only to you. It will kill anyone else who tries to wear it. I managed to work in a connection to the Void, only possible because of the bond we now share. While it will be removable, it will change something fundamental in you, permanently. I could not avoid this. Once you put this on, you will be my child forever, and I do not share or let go of what is mine. Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?”_ Mother asked gently.

“I want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. What do I have to do to make this happen?”

_“You must bleed onto it while imagining what you want your new body to look like, while also channeling Soul into it. You will then put it on and I will anoint you with Void spilled from my own body. We join hands and announce ourselves as mother and child, and the ritual will be complete.”_

“A-alright.”

 _“This is truly what you want? There is no going back.”_ They said with an uncharacteristic seriousness.

Dear Heart squared his shoulders in resolve. “Yes.”

_“Then let us begin. Give me your hand.”_

He did so, and Mother slit his palm with a sharp claw and pressed his bleeding hand to the forehead of the mask. Blood welled from the cut and dribbled over the sides of the mask, collecting in the divots of the eye holes.

He took a deep breath and channeled Soul into it. He felt Mother do the same, their much larger hand laid over his. He focused on picturing his new appearance while Mother hissed strange sounds he’d never heard them make before. The noise grated against his ears. Mortal ears were not supposed to hear such things, he knew. 

He pictured a soft ruff like theirs, but in a vibrant scarlet red. Strong legs to carry him swiftly, spikes on the calves and hoof-claws with which to kick. A small abdomen like theirs, to aid in balance, a stinger hidden within as well. Four slim arms and five-fingered hands tipped with claws built not for slicing, but for grasping and climbing. Six wings that shone a blood red in the light and glowed with fire in the dark. Dark chitinous plates covering flesh black as void. 

He was ready.

Mother gently rotated the hand holding the mask and pressed the interior to his face.It was coated in blood, but Dear Heart ignored the sensation. The mask’s magic swirled around him but did not activate just yet. 

Something colder than ice began to drip steadily onto the crown of his head. It coated his hair and burned his skin with its chill wherever it touched his bare skin. 

Mother drew their hand and his away from the mask. It stuck on his face with no other support.

Mother gently grasped his hands, one of them cut and bleeding like his was. Dear Heart opened his eyes and saw the outlines of the mask’s eye holes in his right eye’s peripheral vision. He looked into Mother’s eyes as they intoned the sacred words.

 _“I take you as My Child, Dear Heart,”_ They said in the True Voice of the Void. It was a thousand voices, singing at once. In happiness. In triumph. In love. It was beautiful.

The words came unbidden to his mind.

_“And I take you as My Mother, Ghost.”_

There was a flash of unlight. Darkness in its purest form, entwined with a shining light. Those in tune with the spiritual felt a wave of something indescribably profound wash over them.

* * *

Far away on Crescent Island, only the youngest Fire Sage was there to witness the ancient artifacts, said to have been blessed by Agni himself, begin to glow for the first time in an age.

* * *

In a small inn located in the heart of Harbor Town, a retired General and weary uncle sat bolt upright on the bed, wide awake where he’d previously been dead asleep. The others, who had not quite fallen asleep, all startled badly at Iroh’s abrupt waking.

“I know where my nephew is,” He said in an extremely serious tone laced with fear. “But I don’t know if he’s really my nephew, anymore.”

The others shared a concerned look and tried to urge the old man back to bed, but to no avail. 

The Dragon of the West was awake and roaring. It was time to go rescue his nephew, whatever was left of him, or _die trying_.

* * *

Not too far away from the epicenter of the event, in a ruined temple, the Avatar, Spirit of the World, collapsed to the floor, screaming. 

The Avatar State activated, and Aang rose jerkily from the floor, glowing with the power of hundreds of lives. A thousand voices intoned as one.

**_“The Heir to Eternity has been Chosen.”_ **

The Avatar State abruptly cut off and Aang collapsed bonelessly to the floor, in front of a horrified audience of two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no words guys. it just hit me like a truck, this chapter. i legit did not plan this out in advance, but the characters basically possessed me to write this. goddamn ghost and their weird eldritch powers, reaching across time and space to make me write this. 
> 
> but yeah zuko has basically decided that most of humanity, especially his crappy family, sucks, and goes full-spirit adoption. he's not in a great headspace right now regarding his own humanity, but he'll get better. the mask can still come off and he'll just be a human with a few extra powers, but good fckin luck trying to pry that mask away from him. its his shield against the worlds bullshittery and abuse, hes not gonna be taking it off for a good long while, until he realizes that he cant just go all 'hakuna matata' and forget all his human responsibilities forever. 
> 
> the groups will be meeting up soon, and shits gonna get real. that shit with aang was not just for dramatic purposes, that shit means something. a big something. something with repercussions. stay tuned for more b/c i guarantee you im seeing this thing through to the bitter end, come hell or high water.


	28. The Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ!!!! Again, i have reached a crossroads with this story, read the chapter and then see my authors notes at the bottom to see the different options, if i get no votes or there's a tie, ill have to roll dice or something. comments are my lifeblood, and i love talking to you guys and answering questions, so plz comment if you wanna know stuff, i will most likely reply

Dear Heart felt the magic of the newly-improved mask wash over him. At first it was an icy feeling, like his body had been dipped in freezing water. Then it gradually rose in temperature until it felt like he was burning.

It soon seemed to reach an equilibrium, and what felt like a great, yawning pit opened up inside of him. An empty expanse filled with Void that went on for eternity. It sat still and silent for a moment before it rose up and consumed him.

Tendrils of darkness erupted from the mask and flowed over his skin. His bones stretched and flexed before rearranging themselves completely. His guts twisted and churned before they settled back down again. His skin turned black and grew numerous armored plates. His spine shivered and a spot below his arms burned.

It was several uncomfortable, but not exactly painful, minutes while his body rearranged itself. He’d fallen to the ground when the changes had reached his legs. He shivered in Mother’s arms as they chittered comforting words at him and the bond sung with love.

The new sea of Void that had taken up residence within him seemed to calm down and return to dormancy after his transformation finished itself. 

He opened his eyes and noticed his vision was different. New, indescribable colors overlaid themselves over his surroundings. He soon figured out he was seeing heat. Hotter things appeared brighter or had a reddish hue and colder things were tinted blue. 

Not exactly of course, but there was no other way to describe what he was seeing. He blinked a couple of times and felt something in his eyes unfocus. The new colors disappeared from his vision.

Mother helped him stand up on his new legs. It was definitely different. The surface area of his new hoof-claws was much smaller than that of his human feet, but also more spread out and in a sort of V shape. 

The joints were in different places and it took him a bit to get used to how he was supposed to stand now. The way his legs were shaped added at least a foot to his height, which he was very pleased about. 

He took a deep breath and got to feel the incredibly strange sensation of sucking air through his sides like Mother did. He curiously moved an arm down to feel where the air slits were, and noticed that he had two more arms than he was used to.

He spread them out and noticed how the new muscles in his chest and back flexed. His torso was much thinner now, and his silk shirt was torn and it hung off him strangely. He tried to remove the shredded clothing himself, but his new arms and hooked claws kept getting stuck in the fabric.

Mother eventually stepped in and sliced the material off with a claw. He then noticed that his pants were in a similar state and was embarrassed for approximately two seconds before he remembered that Mother didn’t wear clothes either, and it's not like his bits were just hanging out anymore. Clothing was now also optional for him as well. A strange thought.

His fluffy ruff was warm and covered his upper shoulders and the top of his chest, and was a vibrant scarlet, just like his fire. A new appendage made itself known as it flexed and curled. 

He had a small abdomen like Mother did, and as he tried to move it around a bit, he discovered the muscle that extended his stinger. It was nearly eight inches long, with a wicked point and a single small barb near the end that could also be extended or retracted. 

Acid dripped from it when he flexed another muscle. It melted small holes in the stone floor so he soon un-flexed that particular muscle and retracted the stinger, which disappeared without a trace back into his abdomen.

His abdomen was very flexible, and he found he could move it almost like a tail, but when he wasn’t actively doing anything with it, it curled up towards his back slightly. He noticed that his neck was now much more flexible and he could turn it nearly a hundred and eighty degrees.

He then used this new ability to look at his own back. A novel feeling. He saw the small bulge on his back that indicated where his elytra and wings were located. He flexed more familiar muscles and unfolded his transparent red wings. 

They were the same shape as the Monarch Wings and seemed to function much the same, except they didn’t consume any Soul. He curiously channelled some into his new wings anyway, and was pleased at the way they lit up, like they were on fire, almost.

He stumbled forward on unfamiliar legs and Mother caught him.

_ “You look wonderful, Dear Heart! How do you feel?” _

_ “Well, everything feelss a little off, but nothing hurtss and I can move everything jusst fine. Thank you, Mother, I know you worked really hard on it. I love it.” _

_ “I am happy that you are happy, Dear Heart. Can you feel anything else? You should have a new connection to the Void within you.” _

_ “Oh, uh, yeah I can feel it. It’ss...really big.” _ He finished lamely.

Mother laughed a bit,  _ “Yes, it is, isn't it? The Void Sea is where I draw my power from. Its power is endless, though it physically resides in the bottom of the Abyss, if you recall. If everything went according to plan, you should be able to draw upon it like I can to enhance your spells and perform a bit of minor shapeshifting.” _

_ “I think I’ll ssave the sshapesshifting until after I figure out my new current sshape,” _ He joked.

_ “Perhaps that is for the best! Come, let me teach you how to walk and run with those new legs of yours,” _ They said, gently leading him across the small cave while he awkwardly shuffled and tried to not fall over.

* * *

He and Mother spent the next day avoiding the still-raging storm and testing the limits of his new body. All his senses were enhanced now, more than before. He could even smell with his horns now! 

That was an odd sensation. Smells no longer smelled ‘good’ or ‘bad’ per se, they were all just smells now. He could identify different ones with much more accuracy and could even track, just a bit. That, combined with his new ability to see heat, made him quite an able hunter.

He had fun chasing Mother through the underbrush while they evaded him. It was a great way to practice agility and helped them explore the surroundings. Mother suggested that they stay put for a few days. They said they had a strange feeling something important would happen soon if they stayed, so they did.

Dear Heart questioned if it was their foresight gracing them with a vision, but they had seemed strangely adamant that it hadn’t. Whatever, Dear Heart didn’t mind staying in the forest for a few days. While he didn’t enjoy it as much as the canyon, it had just as many places to explore.

* * *

He also did some of the hunting for dinner now, finding it to be great fun and a good way to keep his stealth skills sharp. He was currently stalking a large water-deer. He and Mother would eat good tonight if he could take it down. 

A cross between a small water-buffalo and a deer, they lived in boggy, wet areas, and tasted really good, but were skittish and aggressive and could cause a lot of damage with their large antlers. Dear Heart was perched in a tree, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Suddenly, both he and the water-deer detected the sounds of people making their way through the wet undergrowth. The water-deer bellowed in alarm and turned to run off. 

He had to strike now, before it fled!

He descended from the foliage to land upon its back, his sharp hooked claws finding easy purchase in the water-deer’s flesh. It bellowed in surprise and pain and attempted to toss its antlered head back to stab him, all while jumping and bucking wildly.

Dear Heart hung on and brought his abdomen to bear and stabbed the beast in the back of the head before injecting a little acid. It hardly had time to scream in pain before it was dead, a large hole melted in the back of its head.

He rode it while it crashed to the ground before hopping off the body, feeling proud of himself. He was so caught up in his own thoughts about how to transport a beast so bulky back to the cave, that he didn’t notice the bushes rustling behind him. 

He did notice when a very familiar and much missed voice choked out a devastated, “Zuko? Nephew, is that you?”

Dear Heart whirled around, both his physical and ethereal heart pounding. He didn’t even register anything beyond the presence of a human for several long seconds. Without thinking, he hunched protectively over his kill and hissed at the intruder, before realizing it was Uncle standing before him.

His eyes widened and he let out a startled,  _ “Uncle?!” _

His Uncle was still staring at him in fear and terrified hope. Dear Heart tilted his head to the side before he realized he probably said that in High Paleian, and not anything Uncle could understand.

He stood up and repeated the startled greeting in something intelligible to the average person.

Uncle looked devastated and overjoyed at his declaration.

“Zuko, nephew, it’s really you? You still...remember me?”

“What? Of coursse I remember you! How forgetful do you think I am?!”

“Oh, thank Agni and all the gods, they didn’t steal your memories, too! Are you all right? We should go, before they come back!” Uncle approached him slowly, like he would lash out if Iroh moved too fast.

“Uncle, what are you talking about? Who’ss ‘they’? Are you being chassed?!”

“No, no, I’m talking about Ghost! They stole you away from the  _ Wani  _ that night months ago, do you remember any of that? What lies have they told you?!”

“Wait, Uncle I think there’ss been a missundersstanding, Ghosst didn’t mean to ssteal me, that was an accident, and then we got losst in the Dream Realm, which iss actually the Sspirit World, and a whole bunch of other crazy sstuff happened! How’d you even find me?!”

“A few days ago there was a massive spiritual disturbance coming from this forest, I knew you must have been involved somehow, so I raced to get here in time, now come, we must leave. I know you said it was an accident, but they were probably just lying to you to get you to stay. We’re lucky I got here before they took your memories, too!”

Zuko was just massively confused and a bit upset at Uncle’s words. A few things fell into place. Mother must have somehow sensed that Uncle was on his way so they stayed put so he could find him. 

Uncle clearly thought Mother had stolen them away, when it really had just been a momentary loss of control, combined with what sounded like the rock-shock some Fire Nation soldiers got after experiencing combat with earthbenders. The ‘spiritual disturbance’ Uncle felt must have been the adoption ceremony. There was quite a lot of magic involved in it, after all.

“Uncle, asside from experiencing a weird bout of rock-sshock brought on when my firebending went all funny during an impromptu magic lessson, Mother has been in complete control of themsselvess the entire time, and they never once lied to me.”

“Mother?” Iroh asked in confusion and then dawning horror. 

Zuko, annoyed at the horror on his uncle’s face, clicked their chelicerae together in irritation and elaborated.

“They adopted me. I assked for it, and they didn’t coerce me in any way, magically or otherwisse. They assked me multiple timess if it wass what I wanted. I knew thiss would happen to me, and I wanted it.”

“What?”

Zuko huffed and crossed both sets of arms. Iroh startled at the sight of them. He must not have noticed them, too busy gawking at Zuko’s new face.

_ Well, tough shit. If he has a problem with the way I look now, too bad. I’m not going back _ . He thought to himself, a bit viciously. 

He wouldn’t let Uncle take him away from Mother. He’d run away and Iroh would never be able to find him again.

“You don’t undersstand Uncle, you weren’t there. They told me they loved me and helped me ssee that Ozai was an abussive assshole who was just taunting me by dangling his ssupposed ‘love’ in front of me, with no intention of ever actually giving me hiss approval.”

Iroh’s mouth dropped open in shock. Ghost had apparently managed to do in two months what Iroh had tried and failed to do for two years. Evidently, they’d won his nephew over enough for him to consent being turned into a spirit. Iroh would just have to try harder to win him back.

Zuko decided to continue his tirade, attempting to really hammer home that he was so much happier now, oblivious to Iroh’s new resolve. 

“Did you know that Mother ssaw what happened to Urssa after sshe abandoned me and Azula to Ozai’s tender merciess? Urssa’ss living happily with a man named Ikem in Hira’a, and sshe went to another sspirit called the ‘Mother of Facess’ and begged to have her memories of uss erassed! 

Sshe poisoned grandfather Azulon so that Ozai could take the throne sso he wouldn’t kill me on grandfather’ss orderss. Then, sshe just left us all behind without even keeping the memories of uss! Sshe clearly doessn’t want to be my mother anymore, sso I obliged her. Ghosst is my Mother now, and they’ve loved me more in thesse two monthss than I ever wass in the eight yearss I knew her!” Zuko was shouting by now, but he didn’t care. He snorted a bloom of scarlet fire out of his mouth.

Iroh was stunned at all of the new information just dumped in his lap, but after nearly a full minute of silence, he was able to parse out what Zuko was really trying to say.

“You are...happier now, like this?” Iroh chanced a guess. He hoped he was wrong, but Zuko just threw up all four (four!) of his hands.

“By the Void,  _ yess! _ Sso much happier! You have no idea, Uncle. I can feel it, you know? Their love, I mean. You know Ghosst’ss mind sspeech? They’ve got a different verssion that’ss just raw emotion, and you can’t fake that kind of intenssity, Uncle, it’ss just imposssible. They really, really love me, jusst for me. Not for any other reasson. It’s more than I’ve ever had before.” Zuko said softly. He wasn’t used to baring his metaphorical soul like this, but if it would get his uncle to listen, he’d sing it from the rooftops of Ba Sing Se.

Iroh just looked unbearably sad at that announcement.

“Oh, nephew, I’m sorry I never said the same to you. I thought it would only push you away. I didn’t think you were ready to hear such things from me back then, you were too loyal to my brother, but I’m saying it now: I love you like a son, Zuko. Ever since Lu Ten died, I’ve thought of you as my own. I’m sorry I was too stupid to realize that sooner and tell you so.” 

Iroh was crying now, reaching out for him, desperately, but not daring to approach. Zuko walked forward before he leaned down and caught his uncle in a hug. Their large height difference would have been comical in another setting. Zuko stood six feet tall, at  _ least _ , and Iroh was barely scraping five. Iroh’s crying face was pushed into Zuko’s own fluff. 

_ Heh, now I know how Mother feels! _ He thought humorously. 

There was more noise and the sounds of people approaching, and Zuko again hissed at the unknown intruders before he realized that he was looking at all the people who had received magic from Mother.

Jee flinched back when he caught sight of Zuko, hissing at him, “Sweet Agni!” He shouted, taking an offensive stance. The others reacted in a similar manner.

“No, lieutenant, that is Zuko, do not attack!” Iroh tore himself out of his nephew’s four armed hug and stood protectively in front of him, not knowing that even Jee’s strongest fire blast wouldn’t have done more than tickle Zuko. Not anymore.

“Yeah, Jee. Don’t you recognize me?” Zuko asked, a bit meanly. His low threshold for human interaction had already been exceeded for the day, and he was done dealing with other people’s shit. 

“Woah...you got...taller,” Jee managed. Aza snorted in amusement and dropped her stance. The others followed her lead.

Zuko snorted out more fire and tossed his head. He twitched his wings in irritation. He turned to collect the body of the dead water-deer. “I’m going to bring thiss back to the cave and find Mother, you all can follow me if you want, I don’t particularly care.

The crew all caught sight of the water-deer’s injury when Zuko hefted the entire thing over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

“Woah, how’d that happen? That looks like a chemical burn, but worse than I’ve ever seen before,” Came the chirpy voice of Lin.

“I sstung it,” Came Zuko’s short reply.

“You...stung it?” Aza said in confusion.

In lieu of more words, Zuko simply moved his abdomen and extended its hidden stinger. Acid beaded at the tip before falling to the forest floor before the singer retreated again. Smoking holes formed wherever the acid fell. 

“I’m very venomouss,” Zuko said, with a hint of pride.

“Damn.” Came Aza’s impressed reply.

Zuko simply hummed in response and started walking away. The others followed. 

After some minutes of slowly making their way through the bog, there came a loud echoing shrieking noise. Zuko’s head snapped in the direction it was coming from before sending out the response noise they’d come up with to indicate that friendly company was with him.

The others looked nervous at the noise. “Mother’ss wondering where I am, I let them know you were with me,” Zuko explained.

Minutes later, a loud low buzzing could be heard. Mother appeared in the sky and approached the group excitedly. 

**Oh, Dear Heart, you found Iroh! And the others too! How wonderful!**

They turned to Iroh sadly.

**I just want to apologize about the accidental kidnapping! I truly didn’t mean to, but my old memories and traumas overwhelmed me at precisely the wrong moment! I came back to myself once I had retreated into the Dream Realm with Dear Heart and slept it off, but then we were lost, my control over the Dream Realm was really quite terrible, and the Dreamnail got left behind in the chaos, and then we got lost some more, and then there was that whole mess in Senlin Village, and…!**

“Mother! Breathe, I think they got the gisst,” Zuko said in exasperation. The others all looked a bit stunned at the rapid-fire explanation, “I’ve got dinner, sso why don't we all just ssit down and we can tell everyone what we’ve been up to ssince we were sseparated over ssome food?”

* * *

The pair of spirits took care of cleaning and dressing the water-deer a few dozen feet from where the others were building a cooking fire. Aza had left the group to go retrieve the komodo-rhinos and all their supplies, but soon returned with the rhinos and supplies in tow.

Mother decided to make a large stew for everyone, as it was the easiest way to feed such a large group. Thankfully, Iroh had managed to take most of the supplies with him after he sold the  _ Wani, _ which he sincerely apologized for selling, since he knew how much the ship meant to Zuko.

“Oh, that’ss all right, Uncle, we sstole it back once we figured out you had ssold it. We sstasshed it back near the Ssouthern Air Temple.”

“You  _ what?! _ You stole it? The whole ship? How’d you even manage to sail it all the way back there by yourselves?” Came Iroh’s shocked reply.

“Well, it’ss a bit of a tale, but long sstory sshort once we figured out how to leave the Dream Realm we tried to track you down at the mining village, but you weren’t there and the town didn’t sseem like it was under Fire Nation control anymore, sso we sstarted looking around for the  _ Wani _ , ssince we thought you were sstill on it. We found it a few townss away, but you weren’t there, obvioussly. I didn’t want anyone to purchasse the  _ Wani _ before we managed to track you down and buy it back, sso...we made ssure no one elsse could have it by sstealing it.”

“But how’d you manage to sail the thing by yourselves? A ship the  _ Wani’s _ size needs a fifteen-person crew, absolute minimum!” Came Jee’s intrigued voice.

“Well, you ssee, mosst of those people are needed to keep the enginess running and to man the helm, right? Sso we jusst eliminated those as isssuess. Before we went to Ssenlin Village, the only place Mother could make an exit from the Dream Realm wass the Abysss. 

We returned there to get their thingss, magic artefactss and the like, and one of them was thiss thing called the Crysstal Heart. It’ss esssentially a big power-ssource, like a giant boiler engine, but it’ss only the ssize of an ocean kumquat! We managed to rig the sship to run off that insstead of the regular engine, and ussed a bunch of Ssoul-runess to control the whole sship from the helm. 

It wass a bit tricky, but we ssailed it acrosss the Mo Ce Sea in only a couple of dayss! The Crysstal Heart iss way more powerful than even the biggesst ship enginess, and it propeled the sship way fasster than it could ever go normally! It wass like riding a marlin-sshark, it wass sso fasst!”

The engineering twins immediately started bombarding Zuko with technical questions he didn’t know how to answer before Mother cut them off.

**We were planning on taking everyone back to the** **_Wani_ ** **once we met up with everyone again. I’ll give a lesson on Soul-runes if you like, and you can fiddle with the ship all you want. Technically, a single person could run the ship now, the Crystal Heart is a self-sustaining energy source, and it should last for centuries, even without any maintenance, longer if we tune it up every now and again.**

The twins began furiously whispering to each other in that weird abbreviated twin-speak thing they always did, nearly salivating at the thought of a super-powerful self-sustaining energy source at their fingertips.

“Oh, did you guys have anything to do with how the sun went all super weird months ago? The Fire Nation’s been in uproar over it, the Fire Sages had no idea what was going on other than that Agni was displeased somehow,” Li said, curious.

The others in the group all looked at him funny.

“How’d you know all that?!” Lin exclaimed. Li just shrugged.

“Linguistics/communications officers gotta stick together, you know? We keep in touch. People talk, word travels, and we pick up on the chatter and share it with others in the know. I have my ways,” He said mysteriously. “But, back to the sun thing?” He continued.

“Er, you want to explain that one, Mother? It feelss like a sstory you sshould tell,” Zuko said.

Mother nodded and reached into their fluff to retrieve their charm case. The others expressed varying levels of surprise at the action, and Zuko had to briefly explain the concept of pocket-spaces to get everyone to calm down again.

They reached into the case and delicately plucked the Grimchild charm out and showed it to the others.

**Back when Hallownest was around, I had a son. His very being was tied to this charm, a small magical artifact that can have a myriad of different effects, but this one summons him to me. It was how I kept him safe and with me when I was on my journey to destroy the Infection plauguing the kingdom.**

**After I Ascended, I woke up many hundreds of centuries later. Hallownest had long since crumbled to dust while I slept, and I was sure that he had died. I was too scared to ever equip the charm and find out for sure, so I just...never did.**

**I was sort of in denial. I thought that if I never knew for sure, I could still pretend he was alive out there, somewhere. Dear Heart finally convinced me to try, and, well, turns out my dear son, Grimmchild, wasn’t dead, but instead living in the Dream Realm under a new name. They go by Agni now and--**

Total chaos. Everyone had started yelling, Uncle looked about ready to pass out, all the firebenders looked like they were having a crisis while they stared at Mother in awe, and the others were just confused as hell. All the yelling was giving Zuko a headache.

“Would everyone jusst  _ SSHUT UP?! _ ” He shouted. Everyone fell quiet again at his unexpected outburst. “If you would jusst let them finissh the sstory, you’d get your answerss!” He grumped.

Mother went over to the water-deer they had started preparing for the stew earlier. The stew wans’t ready yet, it was still cooking. They ripped a leg off and handed it to him.

**Here, Dear Heart, you’re acting hangry.**

Zuko huffed but took the leg, since he  _ was _ actually hungry. He bit into the raw leg of meat and glared at everyone else, daring them to say anything about his new dietary preferences. Uncle looked about ready to say something, but then seemed to think better of it.

**As I said, he’d been living in the Dream Realm ever since I had disappeared back into the Abyss to sleep. He thought I had died in the final battle, and had lived out his adolescence with my siblings. When the world started deteriorating, they all retreated to the Dream Realm to live out the last years of their lives. His connection to the Nightmare Heart, essentially the center of his powers, was connected to the Dream Realm, which had started to stagnate after I killed its previous Lord and Master, since She had been the cause of the Infection.**

**I was asleep and was obviously not tending to it as I should have been. The Nightmare Heart had begun to weaken with the growing stagnation. His power over the Dream Realm started declining, but his fire powers had stayed as strong as ever.**

**The Dream Realm eventually started to take on a life of its own, the stray thoughts and beliefs of the humans that now existed had begun to influence it. Dreams gained minds of their own, and were called spirits by the local populace whenever the Dreams managed to cross the barrier between the Real World and the Dream Realm.**

“Wait so the Dream Realm is the Spirit World?” Asked Jee.

**Yes.**

The group all looked stunned at that, they were learning secrets about the world that no one else on the planet knew. The thought was exciting and they urged Mother to continue the story.

**One day he crossed over to the Real World to gather things to take back to the Dream Realm with him, but a woman stumbled across him…**

Mother then told the tale of Agni falling in love with a human woman named Kai and having a child with her. They described how Agni tried to stay with them as long as possible, but was tied to the Dream Realm after spending so long in it and trying to care for the Nightmare Heart as it weakened.

They told of how the worship and belief of the humans influenced His powers and He abandoned the weakened Nightmare Heart in favor of connecting to the sun and becoming its steward, which helped stabilize the weather and allowed the Fire Nation to prosper. 

They told of how Agni had created the first dragons and how His daughter, Li, had taught the mortals how to firebend by observing the dragons her father had created to guard the fledgling nation.

Mother told of how the Fire Nation Royal Family was in fact, descended from Agni Himself, and by extension, Ghost themself, which technically made both Uncle and Zuko, and the rest of the Royal Family, technically their great-great-many-great-grandchildren.

The group was mechanically eating their stew while Mother spun the epic tale of the origins of firebending and how the Royal Family were technically descended from five separate literal, actual gods. 

The tale of why the sun went dim ended rather anticlimactically with Mother telling everyone how they used the charm, which summoned Agni to them, thus displacing Him from the Dream Realm and disrupting everyone’s connection to firebending, since while the sun was the greatest source of fire, Agni Himself embodied the sun and was responsible for its care, so He was actually what everyone sensed when they tried to locate the sun. 

It worked because Agni had never really left His own personal corner of the Dream Realm, content with His duties and routine maintenance of the sun.

* * *

“Does that mean that Agni supports or doesn't support the war, though?” Asked Jee in confusion.

“Actually, turnss out he had no idea it wass even going on,” Zuko said.

Everyone’s simultaneous cry of “WHAT?!” echoed through the forest.

“Yeah, He checked up on the human realm every sso often to see how the Fire Nation wass doing, but after sso many timess of Him checking and everything being fine, He ssort of sstopped doing it ass much, and before He knew it, an entire century had gone by...I guesss when you live forever, a century doesn’t sseem very long at all,” Zuko explained.

Everyone was quiet for a bit as they really processed just how old Mother really was.

“But what about the war? Surely you told Him about it when you met Him, right?” Lin asked.

“Of coursse I did! He wass furiouss when He found out. While He didn’t hate the Fire Nation ass a whole, He was dissgussted with Ssozin’s actionss and angry and dissappointed that future Fire Lordss had decided to continue it. He ssort of, uh, assked me to end it ssince he couldn’t just leave the Dream Realm and go do it Himself, taking care of the ssun is consstant work, He ssaid. Even Him being gone for jusst a few hourss really caussed problems for him,” Zuko explained.

Everyone’s current worldviews were just constantly being flipped upside down and backwards.

“That’s a lot of responsibility to put on a kid…” Aza said quietly.

“Yeah, but I won’t have to do it alone, right? I’ve got Mother, and now I’ve got you guyss, too, yeah?”

Aza inhaled and let out a long, slow breath. “Yeah, kid, you sure do. Can’t just ignore divine intervention like that, yeah? The Big Man Himself said that the war is wrong and wants it to be over, then who am I to argue with that?”

Everyone quietly voiced agreement with her, sounding subdued for a small time before Iroh spoke up. 

“I suppose now would be a good time to mention that I am part of a secret society dedicated to ending the war and spreading peace. It’s called the White Lotus and I myself am a Grandmaster. I will spread word that you are on the side of peace, and allocate resources to help us.”

More shocked exclamations from everyone. Zuko sighed. It was going to be a long night, wasn’t it?

* * *

It was, indeed, a long night. The group spent hours talking and explaining everything else that had happened. Zuko was a bit more hesitant to talk about his recent adoption with his former crew, but after all the massive revelations talked about that night, it didn’t seem like such a huge deal. 

He also ended up telling everyone about his new connection to the Nightmare Heart after Lin asked why his fire was all strange now.

They all seemed cautiously happy for him, but didn’t really know how to handle the idea of the whole spirit transformation thing, or that he wore the Nightmare Heart, known to most people as the First Flame, above his head like a strange crown, a majority of the time.

He’d since figured out how to hide its presence from others, and could make it visible or invisible at will, though it was a lot harder to use his firebending when it was hidden. 

Regarding his changes, Uncle seemed saddest of all, but also very determined to love and care for him, no matter what his choices were. Zuko appreciated that. 

He’d been quietly worried that Uncle would reject him, but was pleasantly surprised by how accepting he seemed after he had gotten over the initial shock. Zuko didn’t look even remotely human anymore, after all, and that would take some getting used to.

They all decided to stay in the forest for a little bit while they figured out what to do next. 

* * *

A few days later, Zuko was out exploring the forest a bit further afield than he normally did, with the area around the cave being so suddenly occupied by so many other people, he had to get away from all the noise and movement before he snarled at somebody. 

It was raining pretty hard, but he didn’t care. Aside from his ruff and wings, which he kept tucked away, he was pretty rain-resistant. He didn’t have clothes that would get soaked, and water just rolled right off his shell. His inner fire kept him plenty warm.

He was currently practicing his stealth and sword katas, wielding them with four arms available to him opened up a world of new possibilities, and he was eager to explore every one of them. 

Just when he really started getting into it, he heard the faint sounds of a struggle from far off. It was coming from the opposite direction of their camp, so it wasn’t likely any of the crew or Uncle in trouble. He equipped all his best stealth charms and took off through the underbrush, avoiding every small, snapable twig and wet pile of vegetation.

He sped through the forest, bouncing off of branches and trees silently, occasionally changing direction when he smelled the faint scents of people. His horns led him to an especially swampy part of the forest. He looked around curiously. The scent of fear was strongest here.

There, on a log, was a scrap of familiar orange fabric pinned to the soggy wood with an arrow. There were many more arrows scattered around on the floor. Zuko hopped on top of the wet log to avoid the disgusting brown swamp water and get closer to the potential clue. He retrieved the fabric scrap and one of the intact arrows, just to be sure, and then growled in frustration.

The Avatar had been captured by the Yu Yan Archers.

* * *

It didn’t take him long to locate the fortress the Avatar had been taken to. The scent trail, though obscured a bit by the rain, was straightforward and led him right to it. He cursed when he saw the imposing walls of Pohuai Stronghold. This was going to be tricky.

Zuko eventually managed to sneak in by riding the underside of a supply cart. Shadow and grippy powers were really making this whole thing too easy.

Once he was in, he could hear his least favorite person, Zhao, making a pompous speech about how he'd captured the Avatar and how the Fire Nation would reign supreme. Egotistical ass.

He hadn’t even had to fight any guards yet, he just stuck to the shadows and crawled along the metal ceilings, trying to locate where the Avatar was being held captive.

He eventually found the right corridor, but there were four guards standing by the door, and the hallway was too well-lit for him to sneak up next to them on the ceiling. Change of plans, then.

He found a discarded bucket in an open supply closet, and rolled it around the corner, while he lay in wait on the ceiling for his prey to fall for the bait.

One guard came around the corner, picking up the bucket in confusion. Zuko dropped from the ceiling and the guard only had time to get out half a scream before Zuko tied him up in Soul-silk and dangled him from the ceiling, upside down.

Two more guards came running around the corner at the sound of their comrade’s strangled scream. They stopped short upon seeing him tied up like a spider-fly’s meal. The man was gagged, and was struggling mightily, eyes wide in terror, looking up at the ceiling.

The other guards looked up and met the glowing eyes of a demon, and soon suffered similar fates.

The last guard refused to move from his post by the door. Zuko dropped down and walked menacingly down the hallway. He was hunched over slightly, four arms held out slightly to the sides, claws extended. He added a bit of a predatory sway to his gait as he brought his stinger around, in full view of the terrified guard.

The guard let out a scream of terror and unleashed a powerful stream of fire right at him. Zuko just let the flames wash over him, completely harmless, and didn't break stride. When he was close enough, he reached out through the flames and grabbed the guard by his collar before yanking him closer to stop him from using the alarm horn by the door. 

The fire cut off abruptly and the man looked up into the flaming eyes of his perceived doom. 

“Wass that ssuppossed to do ssomething?” The demon asked blandly. The guard passed out in fear. 

Zuko snorted in amusement before tying him up next to the door. He inspected the sturdy metal door, complete with an intricate lock.

He disregarded the locking mechanism completely by spitting acid on it. A hole was swiftly eaten through the metal. Zuko pushed the door open and stepped through. The Avatar was suspended from his wrists between two pillars by chains.

The Avatar looked up and then blanched in fear when he saw who it was.

“Z-zuko? Is that you?” The boy asked fearfully.

“Were you expecting ssomeone elsse?” He asked sarcastically. He walked over and began inspecting the chains, looking for a way to free the boy without hurting him. He decided using his acid again was too risky, he didn’t want to accidentally splash the boy with stray droplets. 

Brute force it was, then. Luckily, that was something Zuko had in spades now. “Hold still, I’m busting you out of here.”

“Don’t you want me to be captured by the Fire Nation though?” Aang asked curiously, a bit confused. Even if Zuko didn’t want to capture him personally anymore, wouldn’t him being captured by the Fire Nation help them win the war?

“Fuck no. My father burned half my face off for sspeaking out of turn. I sshudder to think what he would do to you.”

Aang’s face went white. “That’s how you got the scar?! I thought it was like a training accident or something!”

Zuko said nothing and used his hoof-claws to shatter the chains holding the Avatar’s feet by stomping on them before biting through the ones holding his arms. He spat the metal shards out on the floor. 

The Avatar still had shackles on his wrists and ankles, but they were no longer attached to anything beyond a couple inches of broken metal chain. Zuko could figure out how to get those off later.

“Wow, you’re strong…” Aang said dazedly.

“Ditching my humanity hass had nothing but upssidess, sso far. Come on, we need to get out of here before ssomeone noticess the guardss I tied up in the hallway, and I can’t jusst fly uss out of here becausse of the rain. We’ll have to ssneak out.”

Just then, the Avatar’s shirt began to move oddly and half-frozen frogs dropped out of his shirt to land on the floor. The boy began trying to recapture them and dismayed over their thawed state. Just...what?

“What the fuck are thosse?”

“They’re wood frogs, my friends are sick and the crazy medicine lady said they need to suck on frozen ones!”

Zuko lightly slapped the back of the boy’s head. “Esscape now, frogss later! You can get more after we get out of here!” He grabbed the boy’s arm and began yanking him through the hallways. 

* * *

Zhao, high off the ego trip of capturing the Avatar, walked down a dimly lit corridor while relaying orders to a scribe.

“I want a full transcription of my speech sent to the Fire Lord, along with glowing testimonials from all of the ranking officers present, and--” Zhao is brought up short by the sight of the Avatar’s guards dangling from the ceiling stuck in what looked like glowing insect silk. 

One was passed out completely, the other, once Zhao ripped off the silk gagging the man, started feverishly repeating traditional prayers to Agni for deliverance from evil. 

When he freed the third guard’s mouth, he started shouting about ceilings and demons with glowing eyes. Zhao rounded the corner and saw the fourth guard, also tied up in silk and unconscious. He looked past the man and saw the open door with the melted lock, and no Avatar.

“Sir, should I hold off sending that speech to the Fire Lord?” Comes the meek voice of the scribe.

Zhao snarled and turned around, already knowing who was behind all of this.

* * *

Aang was clinging to Zuko’s back as he scaled up the wall using his bare hands. They were almost to the top when they were spotted. A firebending guard on the wall shrieked upon seeing Zuko and tried to blast him with fire.

Zuko had to let go of the wall and drop down to avoid getting Aang burnt to a crisp. He landed lightly on the floor and tugged Aang off his back, getting ready to fight.

They both booked it to the closing innermost gate. Zuko was easily able to keep up with the speeding airbender and they made it through the first obstacle.

However, the other gates had enough time to close, and now they were trapped in between the walls. The pair was quickly surrounded and Zuko hissed viciously at them all. A squad of firebenders attempted to blast them all at once but Zuko stole control of the flames. 

All the torches, fireballs, and campfires in the fortress turned a vivid, scarlet red and Zuko shrieked with the effort of yanking control away from people actively firebending at him. Zuko used the rush of fear that created to give life to the fires, turning them into all manner of nearly-rabid beasts made of flame.

The fire animals turned and started attacking everyone except them. Their goal was not to kill or maim, but merely harry and distract. The entire stronghold descended into anarchy and terror at Zuko's latest feat of magic. 

Zuko grabbed a stunned Aang by the collar of his robes before flinging him up towards the top of the wall. The boy caught himself using airbending and Zuko scuttled up the wall behind him.

The pair drops down into the final courtyard, and are quickly surrounded by archers. They fired but the Avatar blew the arrows away with a sphere of air.

“Hold your fire! The Avatar must be captured alive!” Zhao shouted from atop a wall.

Zuko suddenly had an idea. He grabbed the Avatar from behind and gripped the front of his neck in a firm, but not choking hold. The points of his claws dug into the boy’s neck and drew small droplets of blood.

“I’m not really going to hurt you, but play along!” Zuko whispered quietly in Aang’s ears. The angle of his mask and position of his mouth ensured that no one knew he'd said a single word.

Zuko’s blazing scarlet eyes bore into Zhao’s from across the courtyard.

Zhao gritted his teeth. “Open the gate.” 

An officer standing beside Zhao started and asked, “Admiral, what are you doing?” 

Zhao did not explain himself and yelled, “Let them out, now!”

The gate behind the escaping pair groaned as it slowly opened. Zuko walked slowly backwards, dragging Aang along with him. They continued walking slowly backwards towards the treeline.

Back on the wall, an officer again asked Zhao, “How could you let them go?”

“A situation like this requires...precision,” Was the only answer he gave. “Do you have a clear shot?” Zhao directed the question to a crouched Yu Yan Archer next to him. “Knock out the spirit. I'll deliver it to the Fire Lord, along with the Avatar.”

The archer looked only slightly incredulous at the order, but lined up the shot.

The archer let the arrow fly, but before it could hit its target, it was snatched out of the air by a black arm with inhuman reflexes. Zuko raised his only free hand and made a fist before he extended his middle finger in a gesture Mother had told him was equivalent to the highest insult in their culture. 

_ Fuck you, Zhao, and everything you stand for!  _ Zuko thought.

He brought his fist down in a sweeping gesture and a red fog billowed out around the pair. Zuko released Aang’s neck before he grabbed him by the upper arms and performed a short-range teleport backwards into the trees. 

Before Aang had any time to react to the strange sensation of bursting into flames only to reform nearly instantly, he was picked up by Zuko as he sprinted away into the trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooo! blue spirit is one of my fave episodes in the entire series, so i was stoked to write it. aang recovered quickly from the spirit induced avatar state bitch-slap from last chapter, sokka and katara were freaked out but aang woke up soon after and had no idea what they were talking about, and with sokka being all loopy from the storm sickness and katara getting sick as well, he didnt take them all too seriously.
> 
> anyway, my switch from zuko internally calling himself dear heart back to zuko was intentional, for reasons that will be explored later, anyway, thats not why youre all here
> 
> THE OPTIONS:
> 
> 1) zuko joins the gaang at this point due to momma ghost actually receiving a real foresight vision, (which will be explained) its really unclear, but ghost knows that zuko has to go with the gaang or bad shit will happen. momma ghost gives him a magic amulet so they can still talk to each other, like a walkie talkie. the story then mostly follows the gaang with like every other chapter being about ghost and the crew back on the wani slowly inciting a rebellion. this option will focus on zuko making friends his own age and how his more direct presence in the plotline of the episodes changes things. his new, not shitty human friends and lack of constant ghost help temper his more inhuman aspects, and he learns to accept that being a human isnt all terrible, but he still likes all his spirit stuff. this option will have zuko being and behaving more human overall, but he's still a spoopy boi who can look like nightmare fuel when he wants to
> 
> 2) zuko stays with ghost and the now reunited uncle and crew, they go back to the wani and have more adventures together inciting a rebellion. they occasionally cross paths with the gaang and help them out, but for the most part the story doesnt follow the plotlines of the show as much. though iroh's presence helps, zuko still acts more inhuman than he would in the other option, due to still constantly being around ghost. the crew all get super used to it and they delve further into magic. iroh is now the token human on the wani, with everyone else being varying degrees of spoopy. there will be boat adventures and the story focuses more on magic and the concept of how the other and alien can mix and coexist with the normal and mundane. Ghost and zuko stay super close and while zuko comes to accept that humanity is not terrible and wants to be a part of society again to help his people, he is still more inhuman than not, most of the time, and stays that way. he loves his people and wants to lead them right, but he doesnt wanna give up on his new found family and all its spoopy, so the the fire nation will just have to learn how to deal with that
> 
> WHAT WILL HAPPEN NO MATTER WHICH OPTION YOU PICK:
> 
> the fire nation is actually one of the more spiritual nations in that they are very closely connected with their patron spirit agni, and see zuko as some kind of 'chosen one'. they all lose their shit when it comes out that agni likes him specifically, and also that the mother of their patron spirit has adopted him. out of all the nations, they are the chillest with their leader being spirit-touched or spirit-influenced, while the earth kingdom shits itself and the northern water tribe is just kind of butthurt that the fire nations spirits are way more involved with their people, and meanwhile, they've got the physical bodies of their patron spirits in their fckin city, and they dont talk to the water tribe like, at all, other than yue, who tui is totally bros with. 
> 
> the rebellion stuff will happen with some choosing to side with zuko and what agni demands read: war bad, peace good, and some stay loyal to ozai and the war effort. big conflict and socio-political stuff happens.


	29. Have You Ever Met God? No? Would You Like To?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, guys, all your responses were great! you all seemed a lot more divided this time, compared to last time, then again, maybe because this time the choices are more interesting? Anyway, I read every single comment, and a lot of you on both sides of the argument raised a lot of really good points! I wanted to include elements from both choices, and a lot of you seemed to agree with me.
> 
> Okay, so, zuko wont be joining the gaang right now, but maybe after the whole north invasion debacle, they'll get to hang out a bit. zuko will occasionally join them for short adventures, so he'll get to hang out with kids his own age, dont worry! He'll mostly stay on the wani, causing chaos on the high seas with the crew. ghost and iroh get to really start co-parenting, and zuko will learn to accept that humanity as a whole isnt so bad, he just got dealt a really shit hand in the biological parents department, but thats okay, because the family that CHOSE him is, like, 100000% better anyway.
> 
> he's still all for MAXIMUM SPOOPY, because while he's learned to balance human and spirit behaviors a lot better, he still enjoys freaking people out, but he chills way out once you get to know him. aside from when the situation really calls for it though, he prefers his new spirit appearance.
> 
> the crew all say 'fuck it' and learn to embrace the crazy magic to varying levels. the twins evolve into full on mad scientists/inventors/engineers, and together they will revolutionize the world!! JK, but they do make a lot of crazy stuff. iroh is the one bastion of sanity on the floating ship full of crazy, but thats life! *shrugging emoji*
> 
> the plot will go off the rails at many points, but the gaang still have to save the world, and so certain events basically have to happen.
> 
> season three is when shit really goes nuts though, because zuko (and maybe others, still haven't decided) basically join the gaang full-time, and the group being undercover in the fire nation lets them all see the effects of the war first-hand, this is where a lot of the revolution shenanigans will probably happen, with iroh trying to subtly groom zuko to be ready to be firelord, because iroh is RETIRED, dammit! lol anyway, leader of a revolution looks great on a resume, so...

Zuko ran nearly halfway across the forest before he put the Avatar down, confident that they’d made their getaway.

“There, you’re free. Don’t ever make me come resscue you again, it’ss getting annoying.”

“Well, thanks for doing it anyway…” Said the Avatar.

They both stood around awkwardly for a moment.

“Don’t you need to go find more frozen frogss, or whatever?” Zuko asks, desperate to stop the awkward silence.

“Oh yeah! Um, can you come with me, to make sure they don’t catch me again?” The Avatar asked.

“Ssweet Void, why me? Fine! I can’t believe you managed to get captured in the firsst place. Maybe I sshould just come along anyway to make ssure you don’t get yoursself killed before you kick my father’s asss and resstore balance, or whatever.”

“Hey, that’s a great idea! You’re not trying to capture me anymore, and you can still firebend, right? I’ll need a teacher eventually, you should come with us! We’ve got plenty of room on Appa!”

“Abssolutely not, that wass a joke! That iss a terrible idea! I’ve got my own people to worry about!”

“...They’re not...you know, hurting you or anything like that, right?” The Avatar asked quietly.

“What? No, why doess everyone keep assking that?! Mother is great, and I assked for thiss anyway! Why can no one sseem to undersstand that?!” Zuko snorted fire out his mouth in irritation.

“Woah, calm down, I just wanted to make sure!” The Avatar reassured, before he processed Zuko’s statement. “Mother? I thought you called them Nana?”

“I did, but then I assked them to formally adopt me, ssince it turnss out both my parentss didn’t want me. My father burned half my face off and my human mother thought sshe’d be better off running away and erassing her own memoriess of me,” Zuko said bitterly, with a bitter expression.

“Oh, er, I uh, didn’t mean to pry…” Aang said. He didn’t even know where to start unpacking all of  _ that _ . Aang was even more glad for the Air Nomad philosophy of communally raising children, now. He can’t even imagine how awful it must be to be stuck with terrible parents.

* * *

They walked in silence until they reached the swamp, where the Avatar gathered more frozen frogs. Zuko decided to walk with him back to the ruins where his friends were resting. 

Zuko was sort of curious to meet the Avatar’s friends, to know what they were like. Though the boy was a pathetic fighter and rude, they were still the only people Zuko knew of that were his own age.

The Avatar seemed bubbly and a bit of an airhead, ironically enough, but seemed like he was eager to make friends. He’d probably be pretty easy to get along with. The girl seemed much more serious, always willing to fight and very suspicious of strangers. That was a good trait to have, in Zuko’s opinion. Most people couldn’t be trusted, even the ones you thought were safe.

He couldn’t really deduce all that much from the few interactions he’d had with the group, but they seemed like an interesting bunch.

The pair began climbing the large set of steps leading up to the ruins. The Avatar carefully cradled a handful of frozen frogs in a makeshift basket made out of his shawl, to keep the frogs away from his own body heat.

They made it to the top and Zuko saw both the Water Tribe siblings bundled up in thick sleeping bags, coughing occasionally. The boy was clearly hallucinating, and the girl seemed dazed and out of it and was surrounded by an enormous pile of various junk, oddly enough.

The Avatar walked over and shoved the frogs into their mouths before collapsing against the sky bison’s side, exhausted.

Mere minutes later, as the frogs melted in the mouths of the siblings, they suddenly seemed to come to their senses and spat the frogs out in disgust, shouting at the Avatar.

“You could act a little more grateful, you know. You likely would’ve died without the cure,” Zuko said. 

The siblings’ heads snapped around and the boy screamed like a little girl at the sight of him. Zuko moved his chelicerae in the equivalent of a smug grin.

“Hello again. You’re welcome, by the way. The Avatar got himsself captured by Zhao and I had to busst in and resscue him, again. I think that meanss I’ve ssaved your livess twice now.”

The girl whirled on the Avatar. “Aang, you got captured?! Are you okay?”

The boy smiled at her concern, or, wait, no, those were definitely moon eyes. The Avatar had a crush on the Water Tribe girl. Ugh, gag him with a spoon. He’d never understand the appeal of romantic relationships. Just a whole lot of unnecessary stress and drama, if you asked him.

“Is no one gonna talk about freaky spirit Zuko over there?!” The Water Tribe boy shouted, wildly gesturing at Zuko’s crouched form.

“Sokka, be nice! He did actually rescue me from Zhao, I’d be halfway to the Fire Nation by now if he hadn’t saved me!” The Avatar said. Zuko knew the Water Tribe boy’s name now, at least. Not that Zuko would actually use it until he did something deserving of respect, of course.

“Wait, he’s telling the truth?” The Water Tribe boy said.

Zuko clicked his chelicerae together in irritation. “Of coursse I am! Why would I bother lying about that? Not that I even could, my ssisster got all the lying skillss.”

“Wait, you have a sister?” The Avatar asked. “Is she all…” The boy made a series of strange gestures at his body.

“Yess, I have a ssisster. No, sshe’s not like me. And thank everything good in thiss world that sshe’ss not. Azula iss ruthlesss, and fanatically loyal to our father, unfortunately,” Zuko answered, faintly amused at the attempts to avoid mentioning his spirithood, like it was a touchy subject or something.

“Why aren’t you? Loyal to your dad, I mean. You were all ‘honor this, honor that, must capture the Avatar!’, too, but now you don’t seem to care at all?” The girl asked.

Now  _ that _ was a bit of a touchy subject. Zuko turned his head slightly to bring attention to his scar-mark. The Avatar grimaced, knowing what was coming. 

“My father burned off half my face and then banisshed me for daring to sspeak out of turn during a war meeting. The only reason I sspoke up at all wass becausse one of the Generalss there had a cruel plan that would’ve gotten an entire divission of rookie ssoldierss killed, jusst to win a minor sskirmissh. My father was a manipulative, abussive basstard, but I was too blind to ssee that. Mother showed me what a loving parent lookss like, and now I want nothing to do with him.”

There were sounds of shock and outrage from the siblings. The Water Tribe girl eventually spoke up, touching that strange blue necklace she always wore.

“What about your mother, your first one?” The girl asked quietly.

“Sshe’ss not dead, if that’ss what you’re getting at. No, it would’ve hurt lesss if sshe wass. After a sseriess of eventss that I don’t want to talk about, sshe wass banisshed and then ran back to who sshe planned to marry before my father got his clawss into her, and purpossefully erassed all her memoriess of her once-family. Everything just...gone, poof! Like it never happened for her. Sshe’ss currently living happily with the other man, completely obliviouss to the hell sshe left her firsst sset of children in.”

Dead fucking silence.

“That’s rough, buddy,” The Water Tribe boy offered. The girl looked speechless, like it was inconceivable to her that a mother would run off and abandon her children like that. To her, maybe it was.

The Avatar, probably trying to lighten the suddenly dour mood, said, “But you’re happy now with your new mom? Even though they're not...human?”

Zuko snorted fire again, “Sso much happier. Honesstly, them not being human hass been nothing but a good thing. You don’t have to worry about me trying to capture you anymore. The only reasson I was trying to in the firsst place wass because it wass the only way to lift my banisshment. When I was ssent away, no one had sseen the Avatar for a hundred yearss, everybody thought they were gone for good. My father never meant for me to ssucceed.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that,” The girl said quietly.

Zuko tossed his head, “I don’t need your pity. I’m much better off now with Mother.”

“Speaking of which, are they why you’re all...monster-y? You looked more normal in the canyon. Still freaky, but more normal,” The Water Tribe boy asked bluntly.

Zuko snorted out a breath of fire in amusement, not really offended by the remark, “I wass adopted. Mother made everything official a few dayss ago, and sspirit adoption is a bit...more involved, let’ss ssay, than just ssigning ssome paperwork. And before you even assk, I wanted thiss, and they obliged my requesst. They didn’t force me into anything, sso get that through your thick headss!”

“Wait, did that have anything to do with why the Avatar State went all crazy a few days ago?” The girl asked.

“The Avatar Sstate went ‘crazy’?” Zuko asked, tilting his head to the left to indicate interest. This was interesting, and the answer was probably yes, anyways. Mother had used a, quite frankly, ridiculous amount of power when the adoption was finalized.

“Yeah, we were just sitting here, totally calm, and all of the sudden Aang had a fit and went into the Avatar State screaming about an ‘Heir to Eternity’ or something like that!” the Water Tribe boy yelled.

‘Heir to Eternity’? That sounded badass, Zuko approved of the name. Mother was the Void embodied, it wasn’t that much of a stretch to assume that a being as old as the Avatar Spirit picked up on the intent behind the adoption ritual and connected a few dots.

“Yess, that was probably our fault. The adoption used a ssignificant amount of magical power, I’m not ssurprissed the Avatar Sspirit picked up on it. The title’ss new to me, though it makess ssensse. ‘Eternity’ wass probably in reference to Mother. They are the oldesst living thing on the planet, ass far as I know. Mother is a timelesss being, that probably qualifiess as ‘eternity’.”

“Magic isn’t real!” Came the indignant cry of the Water Tribe boy, despite living evidence to the contrary sitting right in font him. Zuko shook his head.

“Yeah, you jusst keep telling yoursself that.” Zuko rolled his eyes.

“Wait, just to make sure, is Mother the other spirit? The tall one that looks like you?” The girl asked. 

“Yess. I ussed to call them Nana, but they’re Mother now. Inssult them and you won’t like the conssequencess,” He glared at the Water Tribe boy, who glared right back.

The boy broke eye contact first, much to Zuko’s satisfaction. He looked outside the temple. The rain had finally let up.

“I’ll be going now. Mother will be wondering where I am,” Zuko stood up to his full height, which seemed to surprise the Water Tribe siblings. Zuko internally smirked at that. Being tall was awesome. “Perhapss our pathss will crosss again, perhapss not. Make ssure you don’t get yoursselvess captured again in the meantime.”

Zuko strode over to the ledge and lifted up the small elytra that covered his wings. They unfurled behind him smoothly, and just to be dramatic, he channelled Soul down them, almost making them look like they’d caught flame. He enjoyed the various noises of surprise from behind him before he flew off, streaking across the evening sky.

* * *

“Can we all just agree that what just happened was super weird and messed up?” Sokka asked. “Cause it sounds like Zuko’s had a pretty sucky life up until now.”

The others just nodded, with Katara looking even more sad.

“I just can’t believe someone’s parents would treat them like that...no wonder he used to be so angry all the time…” Katara said.

“We’d better get going now that the rain has let up, it might come back. This place sure seems like it rains a lot,” Aang said. The others began packing their things up, eager to leave the dreary forest.

* * *

Zuko arrived back at the campsite, where he endured much fussing from Mother as well as Uncle. He told them of how he’d had to go rescue the Avatar from Zhao, and then had to endure even more fussing, this time from basically everyone. 

Nobody there liked Zhao, and they all knew how dangerous he could be, especially now that he had been promoted to Admiral. Part of him was annoyed at the fussing, but another part of him was secretly happy he had so many people who cared about his well being. They spent the night in the forest one last time before they decided to leave.

* * *

**To get back to the _Wani_ , we’ll all need to travel through the Dream Realm. It is the fastest way to transport such a large group of people, and we left some supplies back at the Burrow that I’d like to take with us.**

“Wait, we’re going into the Spirit World?! You won’t get lost again, right?” Jee asked.

**No. I have since become much more skilled at manipulating the Dream Realm, and we anchored the _Wani_ where you had it before when you sailed to the Southern Air Temple the first time, which I could find and travel to even when my control was terrible.**

**I’d also like to stop by and check up on my son, see how he’s doing now that I’ve begun to get things flowing again in the Dream Realm, and maybe raid his storage room again. I’m sure he’d enjoy meeting all of you as well!**

“Wait, you mean we’ll get to meet Agni Himself, for real?!” Lin asked in disbelief, a look which was mirrored on the rest of the crew’s faces.

**Yes, unless you would not like to? I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.**

“No, no, that’s fine...I just need to mentally prepare myself. Meeting Agni face to face, holy shit!” Lin whispered.

Mother chirped a laugh. 

**He hates formalities, bowing and reverence will likely just make him uncomfortable, so just act casually, but be reasonably respectful, and you’ll get along fine.**

“We’re going to meet Agni, and ‘just act casually,’ right, okay, sure, I’ll just go and do that...” Lin said in disbelief, a strange expression on her face. Everyone else seemed similarly dazed.

**Well, no one is meeting anyone if we just sit around all day like mushrooms! Come on, let’s get everything packed up on the rhinos. Aza, will you be able to keep them calm while we travel? The surroundings will look quite strange to you all, but nothing there will harm any of you, I won’t allow it.**

“Ghost, if I couldn’t keep my animals calm, I wouldn’t be worthy of my job as an animal handler. I’ll keep them under control, you can count on that,” Aza said with a serious expression. While she was casual and sort of goofy most of the time, she took the care and keeping of her animals extremely seriously.

**Just making sure. The Dream Realm is not bound by the same rules as the Real World, so just be prepared.**

* * *

They all finished packing and Mother ripped open a large portal, wide enough for the rhinos to walk through, single file. It looked like a crack in the air, edges splintered like a piece of shattered glass. Mother led everyone through, and Zuko brought up the rear before they sealed the portal shut.

When he stepped through, Zuko could see that they had entered right next to the Burrow. The fields that they had messed with previously were still there, in all their chaotic glory, and the tree above the Burrow was still on fire and decorated as it had been.

The crew were all looking around in fascination. Aza was patting the rhinos and talking to them softly. True to her word, they seemed quite calm. Mother was busy conjuring some sort of stable or shelter for them to stay in while they all went to visit Agni, much to everyone’s interest.

Watching Mother just create things, much less entire buildings, out of nothing was a very cool process to watch. Their hands and fingers twisted and seemed to catch on invisible threads in the air, and they plucked and wove them together before things would just materialize out of nothing.

The stable was soon constructed, and Aza led the rhinos inside. The stalls were nice and large and filled with soft fresh hay. The rhinos eagerly bedded down to rest, tired of sleeping outside in the cold, damp forest.

**Now, my son lives close by, but it's still a bit of a trek for those who can't fly, so we’d best get going.**

The group all followed Mother as they blazed a trail through the Dream Realm, getting rid of vegetation and flattening out the path wherever they walked and just generally making what might’ve been a serious hike into an easy stroll. 

There was only one incident where a large, strong-looking wolf spirit jumped out in front of them, seemingly to bar their path or attack them, but it burst apart into floating motes of Essence when Mother just casually flung a spear of light at it before it had even finished snarling. The others seemed much more at ease knowing that Mother was definitely powerful enough to protect them all from any other spirits seeking to harm them.

After about an hour of walking, Agni’s home came into view. It looked like a squat sort of pagoda or traditional shrine, done up in dark wood tones, with some warm burgundy and soft gold accents thrown in. It was just as pretty and surprisingly modest as Zuko remembered it.

Mother walked up the front step and pulled a golden rope hanging by the door. A series of bells rung out softly, and the sounds of movement could be heard from within. The crew all frantically tried to make themselves look as presentable as possible.

The enormous front door opened and there stood Agni, in all his tall, flaming glory. 

“Mother! It is good to see you again!” He said, before leaning down and nuzzling Mother’s cheeks with his own in an affectionate greeting, like how Mother often did with Zuko. He was even taller than Mother, and was basically a giant compared to the crew.  


He looked out at the crew confusedly before he spotted Zuko standing at the rear of the group. Zuko waved. Uncle and the crew all looked like they were trying to not pass out or hyperventilate.

“And you brought guests! How wonderful! I haven’t had any guests besides Tui and La for ages, come in, come in!” He said excitedly. He turned and opened the door wider to let Mother and the others in. 

Mother did so easily, but Zuko had to prod at some of the crew, including Uncle, to get them to snap out of it and actually walk forward.

“Those with shoes can leave them at the door, please,” Agni said. Everyone followed to obey, except for Zuko and Mother, who obviously wore no clothing. He led them inside to a very traditional looking living/dining room area. All the furniture was enormous compared to the crew, which made sense, since Agni was so tall.

“Oh, here let me get you all some chairs more your size,” He snapped his fingers on one hand and several padded wooden chairs appeared in a burst of golden fire. “Ah, I haven’t been able to do that in centuries! I’ve done a bit of redecorating recently, as you can see. The Dream Realm is finally starting to flow again now that you’ve returned, Mother. Thank you.”

**I should have returned long ago. I’m sorry it took me so long, Little One.**

Agni looked faintly embarrassed at the affectionate name. “Not in front of guests, Mother! Besides, I’m taller than you, now!”

**You will always be my Little One, no matter how old or how tall you are.**

“Mother!” Agni said in a drawn out way, like all people being publicly embarrassed by their parents did.

* * *

After that display, the crew seemed to calm down some and Ghost introduced them all. Agni got them all some refreshments, and small talk commenced, with Iroh narrating much of the crew’s adventures during their journey to find Zuko and Ghost after the unfortunate kidnapping accident.

Apparently their group had been attacked by a passing patrol of Earth Kingdom soldiers that recognized Iroh as the Dragon of the West, but were easily defeated by Iroh’s firebending and homemade spells from the crew, which sent the Earth Kingdom soldiers running in fear, screaming about spirit curses. The people of the Central Earth Kingdom were apparently very superstitious.

Agni praised the group for their ingenuity and willingness to experiment with magic and spells, and then mentioned that the twins could have some of His old magic texts, since it wasn’t like He needed them anymore.

Agni also congratulated Zuko on his adoption, and asked Ghost about some of the magics involved with his transformation. They had that conversation in High Paleian, since there was some sensitive and highly personal info being shared.

The rest of the crew looked surprised when Zuko joined the conversation and easily spoke the same inhuman-sounding language.

After that, Agni said he needed to go tend to the sun again, and led everyone to His storage room, saying that as long as He okayed everything before they left, they could have just about anything that caught their fancy.

The crew all explored the towering piles of stuff eagerly, each of them drawn to different kinds of things.

Though none besides Zuko and Ghost could actually read any of the text, pictures were pretty universal. 

Aza had found a stone journal that included hundreds of different images of long-extinct creatures, as well as a box of different hunting trophies taken from said creatures.

The twins had found a large crate of different magical odds and ends, as well as some very technical looking diagrams and strange looking tools.

Lin had been fascinated by a collection of what appeared to be medical scrolls detailing the anatomy of the various extinct denizens of Hallownest.

Jee was fascinated by some old maps he found, but was confused about how to read them. Ghost informed him that Hallownest had been a series of large, interconnected caves and tunnels, and suddenly the map made much more sense to Jee, although he still couldn’t read any of the notes written all over it.

Uncle was practically weeping with joy over a series of seed collections, some from Hallownest, but many from around the Four Nations. Apparently, many were currently extinct, and quite a few could be used to produce tea that was normally impossible to obtain. 

There were even a series of botany scrolls about how to care for the plants, written not in High Paleian, but in a very traditional and difficult to read script that was probably common back when the plants were still readily available.

Li had discovered a chest of ancient artifacts from Hallownest’s glory days, including several personal journals of various travelers and a strange device that seemed to replicate any sound it heard once he activated it with Soul. He had fun saying things into it only to have the stone half-oval repeat it back to him. 

He’d also found a small collection of delicately carved stone figurines. One looked like a tree with a face, another like an enormous slug, and the fanciest of them all was a strange creature that Li couldn’t identify. It had a bunch of sharp horns, though. Or maybe it was a crown?

Ghost had looked strangely upset when they saw him puzzling over it. 

Ghost informed a confused Li that it was an object of worship dedicated to their absolute bastard of a father, right before they stormed off. Li quietly put the idol back into the chest they had pulled it from before gently shutting the lid.

* * *

Zuko went off to comfort Mother, and found them some minutes later staring at a series of paintings and portraits. Some of them were quite large. Uncle and the crew had all gathered nearby with their found treasures and were curious about the paintings as well.

The one Mother seemed the most fascinated by was a portrait of two bugs, with the taller one wrapping an arm around the shoulder of the one in red. The bugs were both quite tall and shared many similar features with Mother.

“Are they…?” Zuko asked quietly. 

**Yes, Dear Heart. The one in red was my half-sister Hornet, and the taller one was my sibling Hollow. Hornet was the one who named me, did I ever tell you that?**

“No, actually. I thought you ssaid you chosse your adult namess yoursselvess?”

**Traditionally, yes, but Hornet had once called me ‘a little ghost of Hallownest’s past’. I decided that I liked the sound of it, and it meant even more coming from a relative, even if she also tried to kill me a couple of times.**

At Zuko’s alarmed look, they elaborated.

**She was just trying to make sure she didn’t entrust the King’s Brand to me only to have me die because I was too weak to save Hallownest. She was trying to show that she cared, in her own way. She didn’t really want to kill me, but she was the kingdom’s protector, and she took her duties very seriously.**

Zuko wondered if Azula was trying to do something similar whenever she tried to kill him when they were kids. Maybe she was trying to toughen him up in her own violent way? Zuko hoped that was the case, he did still care about her, and hoped she felt some small measure of affection for him as well, no matter how weirdly she expressed it.

**She eventually grew to respect me and helped me out a couple of times on my adventures. She’s the one I entrusted Grimmchild to, when I thought I was going to my death. I assumed I would die fighting the Old Light and saving everyone, but I Ascended instead. I’m sad I didn’t ever get to spend more time with her.**

“What about Hollow? What were they like?”

At this, Mother seemed to sigh.

**Poor Hollow. I didn’t ever really get to know them. I only ever saw them with my own eyes in the Real World twice. The first was shortly after our birth. I was the first born, the first hatched, but we shared an egg. I helped them crawl from the same egg that I had broken open moments before.**

**The second time was outside the Abyss, when they were suspended from the ceiling of the Black Egg Temple, bound in chains and spells. I opened the Temple where they were kept, and I was going to free them from their chains so I could duel them and try to use the Dreamnail on them to kill the Old Light that way, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I just couldn’t.**

**My only other living sibling besides Hornet. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt them, even possessed by the Old Light as they were. It would have likely killed them from the strain, weak as they were.**

**I don’t know if they ever actually saw me standing there, trying to work up the strength to essentially kill them, or if it was the hateful Old Light staring back at me.**

**I eventually found an alternate route to access her in the Dream Realm, and I killed her that way, which allowed Hollow to survive.**

**Though I didn’t know them well, I know their history. It was a sad affair.**

**Shortly after every Vessel had hatched, the door to the Abyss opened, and there, standing at the top, was our father, the Pale King. He shone so brightly, he almost hurt to look at, but look we did. That pale light was what doomed us all. It ensnared our minds and sealed our fates. I watched countless of my siblings make the climb, only for their lifeless bodies to return to the bottom of the pit.**

**We couldn’t resist the siren song of the Pale King’s light. We were compelled to climb, to make it to the top and present ourselves for inspection. I was the first Vessel born, but the last to make the climb. I held out against the mental call as long as I could, but I wasn’t strong enough to resist, in the end. None of us were.**

**Hollow was the first one to make it to the top of the Abyss that had enough acting skills right out of the egg to fool the Pale King into thinking they were empty of thought and free will. They saw what happened to the Vessels that made it to the top but weren’t deemed free of ‘impurities’. Any ‘failures’ were swiftly killed and their bodies discarded. Hollow wanted to live. I cannot fault them for that. I made it to the top right after they did, but I was just barely clinging to the edge of the final platform.**

**The Pale King had already turned around at that point, thinking he had found his Pure Vessel, but Hollow looked back at me, clinging to the edge. They wanted to help pull me up, I could see it in their eyes, but they couldn’t risk the Pale King seeing them help me, so they turned around and followed him out of the Abyss.**

**The door was sealed, and I fell back down to the bottom of the pit, alone, but still alive. It would take days for the first shades of my siblings to form. I was stuck down there long after they all emerged.**

**While I was trapped in the Abyss, Hollow was taken to the White Palace and was trained relentlessly to become The Hollow Knight. A being Pure from anything the Old Light could use to Infect them. A living, empty prison to keep Her in, forever.**

**For some reason I will never understand, Hollow chose to stay, to continue the charade that they were empty. They could have easily escaped, it wasn’t like they were under guard all the time.**

Mother gazed at the painting again, and Zuko did the same. Though Hornet was respectably tall, Hollow was even taller, but they seemed almost too thin. Their torso was even slimmer than his or Mother’s.

**I don’t know for sure how the Pale King was able to make them grow so tall. Our Vessel forms didn’t have mouths or functional stomachs, really, and molting takes calories, a lot of them.**

**We sustained ourselves off of Soul, but we could only hold so much within ourselves, and we didn’t consume nearly that much, even if we were to constantly intake it as fast as we could.**

**My best guess is that the Pale King used some kind of spell or ritual to force them to intake more Soul and force their body to adapt, or die trying. I tried to replicate the ritual once, you know, completely hypothetically of course, but I was curious to see if I could discover the method he used.**

**I did anything I could think of to stave off boredom down in the Abyss after I Ascended and found the world devoid of life. Eventually, sleep was my only reprieve.**

**The only viable ritual I was able to discover would have caused immense physical pain to the subject. Vessels were not meant to grow so large in such an unnatural fashion. Hollow’s horns were much too large for the rest of their body, their proportions were all off. They must have been in some form of pain their entire life. How they endured any of it, I’ll never know. I’m not sure I want to know.**

Zuko could say nothing in response to that. Honestly, how do you even begin to address any of that? So, Zuko said nothing and simply shuffled closer to press the side of his body against theirs. Mother’s arm came around and hugged the side of his shoulder, mimicking the pose of their siblings in the painting.

* * *

The crew and Iroh all had horrified expressions on their faces, because, just...what the fuck? How was Ghost even still functioning? That was their past, their family? Gods, no wonder they were so protective over Zuko.

* * *

After that depressing story of Mother’s past, Agni came back and said they were all free to take the treasures they’d chosen, though Iroh had to leave a few seeds from each species behind, just in case something went wrong, because Agni wanted to have backups.

Mother conjured a large cart for them to put their new things in, which they then pulled down the path themselves. Mother promised to teach everyone how to read High Paleian so that they could fully understand all their new tablets and scrolls. Though none of them would ever be able to speak it unless given some form of outside magical aid, they’d at least be able to understand it.

* * *

The group made it back to the Burrow, and after Mother had cleared the place out of stuff they wanted to take with them, they opened another portal that led right to the familiar deck of the _Wani_. Mother went through first, to deactivate all the different security spells they’d placed on it before letting everyone else through.

Zuko looked out at the crew and Mother cleaning dirt and dust off the deck and helping everyone else move back in.

_ It’s good to be back home. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know zuko already heard some of ghosts past from agni before, but the crew have it now too. this time it was ghost actually telling the story, which made it a bit more personal. PK is totally the punching bag in this fic, but i actually dont hate him as a character, and ive read some really good PK redemption fics, but in this one he's kinda a total rat bastard to the vessels. 
> 
> i have some serious headcanons surrounding PK and the abyss memory sequence, my biggest one being that when you are making the climb in the memory, you see the falling bodies of other vessels hit the ground and then not get up. you take no fall damage in the game, at all, at any point, ergo: the vessels must have already been dead when they started falling. now, maybe a few of them hit some spikes or sum shit like that, but i imagine that PK just offs any impure vessels that make it to the top.
> 
> also, you dont see any of the dead siblings form shades immediately like you do when you die in game, or the memory sequence would have included some, probably, so they took some time to form. I know that ghost was probably younger than most of the siblings, given that they have to dig themselves out of the pile of heads at the beginning, but shhhhh, this is fanfiction, im allowed to change the narrative a bit.
> 
> right now im debating between two endings: one with the comet, and one without. you dont have to vote, im just bouncing ideas around right now, the endings a long ways off still.
> 
> comet ending is agni cant destroy the comet for whatever reason, maybe its moving too fast or sum shit idk, point is, pressures on aang, chop chop boy! ozai's itching to burn shit down, big confrontation at the end, all that. ghost probably ninjas their way in after the final battle and just totally kills ozai while aang is lecturing at him about balance or whatever, because that man hurt their baby, therefore, he must perish. aang is horrified and starts yelling of course, but zuko and the crew + the earth kingdom + basically errybody else are all cheering, so he gets outvoted
> 
> no comet ending is when agni destroys the comet but sorta forgets to tell anybody, cause he sucks at communicating and remembering to tell people shit, since hes been basically on his own except for all the other spirits, so he sorta forgets that people live in the real world and dont automatically know whats going on in the dream realm/spirit world. ozai and everybody in the know about the comets existence still expect the comet to show up, except they're just standing around all day like idiots waiting for it to show up and then it just doesnt, thus ruining the big 'invade the world and burn shit' plan and ozai still gets sniped by ghost b/c he hurt their baby and must perish. 
> 
> what im saying is, ghost will kill ozai one way or another, the man's gonna get got, just letting you all know right now. i get that atla was a kids show and they cant just murder characters on screen (cough except jet cough) so they copped out with the 'taking away his bending and making him weak' thing, but in a realistic war setting, that just turns him into a martyr, which will cause all kinds of problems. 
> 
> so, in my fic, he gets violently murdered for child abuse by an elder god who adopted said abused child. not a lot of people are going argue when an enraged 150-foot embodiment of darkness is the one doing the killing and is totally down to shank any remaining ozai supporters. 
> 
> ghost will absolutely cut a bitch, dont test them. i know we havent really seen them go super mama bear mode yet, but thats coming. how graphic do you want it to be? gimme a 1-10 scale here, with 1 being a few lines about zhao (for example) getting dragged into the shadows with no one the wiser and it is implied but not outright said that ghost totally ate him, and he just quietly disappears and no one knows what really happened to him except when they outright ask ghost and they just totally bluntly are all like 'oh yeah he tasted nasty, 0/10 would not recommend'. A 10 would be like indiana jones temple of doom style ripping out a beating heart or some shit, lots of gore, probably involving those void tears you see on corpses in game, much violent screaming involved. maybe in front of an audience, maybe not. IDK what qualifies as mature vs. teen when it comes to violent, not sex-related stuff, so advice would be appreciated


	30. Art Gallery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a chapter, but this is where i will put all my art for this fic, if i add another image, i'll let you all know in that chapter's author's notes. pics will all be labeled, if you cant see the pics, let me know in the comments and i'll try to un-fuck them...lord knows i've sometimes been unable to view images on fics, idk what causes it

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/190951181@N04/50574840597/in/dateposted-public/)


	31. Hell Hath No Fury Like The Void

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAHAHA!! >:D i'm so evil guys! sorry this chappie took forever, but i had a bit of writer's block i was able to work through after doing some art! BTW thanks for all the nice comments! im not the greatest with adobe illustrator, but im pretty happy with how it came out! next piece of art is a collection of masks, but idk when i'll get around to it. Ghost looks pretty similar to how i drew zuko, except white fluff and a simplified lord of shades mask with eyes like monomon's, and a bigger abdomen

Moving back into the _Wani_ had been interesting with so few crew members. Each person could now have their own room, though Lin still slept in the infirmary and the twins decided to share a room.

The cargo hold was now much more open, due to not needing nearly as many supplies compared to when the _Wani_ was full of people. With the crew all being much more accepting of magic, Mother began working with the twins to modify more of the ship, to make it more convenient.

Most of the doors now opened automatically when a person stood in front of them for a second, except for the exterior door and any of the doors leading to people’s new personal quarters. They could also be controlled remotely from the helm, along with another new feature Mother called a ‘Marauder's Map’ for some reason.

Honestly Zuko would never understand their naming conventions or why they found them so amusing. 

At any rate, it was a piece of glass with a map of the _Wani_ drawn on it using glowing lines of Soul, and it showed the positions of everyone onboard with personalized icons, and would identify unauthorized persons with a red circle and automatically lock all the doors if they tried to access any. Basically, they never had to worry about stowaways again!

The twins had already begun their lesson in Soul-runes and many of the others also sat in on the lessons. You never knew when such things would come in handy. Mother also marveled over the few spells the twins had straight up invented while Mother and he were lost.

Mother helped improve them and make them easier to cast, too. Zuko personally loved the speed-enhancing spell, though it ate through Soul like nobody’s business.

They also showed everyone how to construct little Soul idols, which passively generated Soul by filtering it out of the air. They actually worked better in places where lots of Soul was being used, since a little Soul was always shed into the surroundings when it was used externally.

They installed a massive one in the infirmary though, in case any of them got hurt and needed Soul fast to fuel a Focus spell. Lin was also there to provide supplementary healing as well.

Mother had also retrieved a handful of Lifeseeds from the Air Temple before they left, and had set up a strange kind of plant-filled room with lots of Soul spells that generated artificial sunlight. They could essentially grow food on the _Wani_ now, which was really neat, and it was also where the Lifeseeds lived, and kind of like wasp-bees, they were pollinators, though they mainly lived off of the blue butterfly-moth flowers.

The _Wani_ used to have a single catapult, but it had been removed when Zuko got the ship due to space concerns. It was actually why the cargo hold was so big in the first place. Usually the catapults, or trebuchets on some of the newer models, were stored below deck in a special section of the cargo hold.

Mother hadn’t been happy to learn that the ship was essentially unarmed, and had blown everyone’s minds, but especially the twins, when they had described some of the weaponry available when their homeland had been in its prime.

Apparently, they had stumbled across a combination of saltpeter, sulphur, and carbon, usually charcoal, that exploded when introduced to sparks or open flame. Mother’s people had been able to figure out a way to create a very solid metal tube sealed at one end, stuff some of the ‘gunpowder’ in the back and load a large, solid metal sphere in the front, with a fuse at the back.

When the gunpowder exploded, the metal tube forced all the, well, force of the explosion to launch the ball at extremely high speeds, causing massive damage to whatever it hit. It was similar to tactics used by earthbenders on boats who launched rocks at attacking ships, except it used no bending at all!

The twins had immediately gotten a very scary look on their faces, and immediately retreated to their new workshop to experiment. They seemed determined to replicate the effect using magic. 

Zuko had then made the mistake of wondering if firebending could be substituted for the gunpowder under the right conditions aloud, and the twins had overheard. They demanded that they be supplied with the raw ingredients necessary for gunpowder, and also a small supply of blasting jelly, so they could compare the results.

Only Mother had thought that was a good idea, but everyone had calmed down when they had suggested the twins experiment in the Dream Realm by bringing the materials with them using the Dreamnail and testing any and all explosives there, where they couldn’t accidentally blow a hole in the _Wani_.

Mother, rightly wary of giving Essence to a human again, had created a small container that held Essence, to allow people other than Zuko to utilize a Dreamgate. It worked and the rest of the crew all slept better at night knowing they wouldn’t all be blown up in their sleep.

Jee, who had once manned a catapult before he had been promoted, was interested in the ballistics of such devices, and had long conversations with both the twins and Mother about math that went way over everyone else’s heads. Mother seemed to have a very broad and strangely in-depth knowledge of a lot of seemingly unrelated subjects, now that Zuko thought about it.

If he didn’t know better, he’d have labelled them a scholar. 

Mother mentioned improvements to the ‘cannons’ that were discovered later, such as ‘rifling’ which apparently made the ball spin in mid-air, somehow increasing its range dramatically, and a later technique they had forgotten the name for that involved the projectile and the gunpowder being self contained in a smaller, semi-disposable casing, which made reloading infinitely faster.

Zuko had no idea how any of that worked, but apparently it did. The twins looked about ready to start worshipping the ground Mother walked on for giving them all these new ideas.

Mother themself went back to working in the kitchen, and lamented that Denki was no longer there to banter with. The crew all got used to new and exotic foods, although some seemed fairly similar to certain types of Fire Nation cuisine, mainly a certain style of food Mother had called ‘indian’ and ‘asian’. 

It was interesting to say the least, since the cultures developed so separately, but Zuko figured that after a certain number of ways to combine similar ingredients, you’d eventually end up with stuff that was similar.

While they never pushed the new Crystal Heart-powered engine as hard as they had when they stole the _Wani_ , the ship still went much faster than it had before. Mother’s tinkering with the twins had greatly improved the whole setup, so it was much more efficient now.

The crew was making steady progress with learning to read High Paleian, but they still occasionally bothered Mother and more rarely Zuko, to read certain passages aloud.

Meanwhile, Li had studied the strange recording device he had found in Agni’s storerooms and had replicated it and linked several together, so now everyone could hear orders being given from the helm if necessary. Li had mounted the devices at various key junctions and corridors, and even some rooms. 

The ‘comm system’ had then been hooked into the Marauder’s Map, so that certain nodes could be selected and people weren’t being constantly bothered by irrelevant messages.

In an attempt to promote camaraderie, Mother had made each of the crew a personalized mask. The only enchantments on them were ones that kept them secured to the face without straps, a minor protection spell to shield from a few attacks worth of damage, and one that blacked out the eye holes to an outside observer. Due to the masks’ eye holes being the traditional proportions for a Hallownest bug, the eye holes were a lot bigger than they needed to be for a human. 

Peripheral vision was barely impacted at all, and through some magic that even Mother didn’t understand, breathing wasn’t hampered either. Most of the crew couldn’t tell that they were even wearing a mask, aside from spotting the edges of it in the corners of their vision.

Out of all the crew members, Aza and the twins took to wearing their masks the most. The twins’ masks looked identical, so they were basically impossible to tell apart at all now. They had very angular faces with thin horns that jutted out in a V shape from the temples of the masks.

Several times Zuko could have sworn he saw sparks or arcs of electricity coming from between the prongs of the horns, but Mother claimed that they’d put no extra enchantments on any of the masks.

Aza’s had so many shorter spiky horns from the cheekbones up that it looked more like a mane of spikes than actual horns, but it had soft round eyes. The result was both threatening looking and strangely innocent at the same time. Aza wore it often, for she claimed the rhinos always felt calmer when she had it on.

Lin’s mask was teardrop shaped with a pointy chin and long, flowing horns that started where a person’s eyebrows would be. They were curved and flowed downward from the eyes, so they almost looked like hair or long eyebrows themselves. The eyes were also teardrop shaped and seemed to convey a peaceful, serene expression, quite at odds with the usually bubbly Lin. The mask seemed to have a bluish sheen in the right lighting.

Li’s mask was sort of triangular, with tall, straight horns that branched oddly, with every branch jutting out at a ninety degree angle from the main horns. He didn’t wear it much, claiming that he often heard a strange buzzing noise or people talking quietly when he wore it. Mother inspected it many times, but could find nothing wrong with it.

Jee’s mask had the largest eye holes and had two horns that started at the temples, and first twisted toward each other before twisting back away in the opposite directions, almost looking like they could hold something in the space in between. Jee liked it and claimed that he always seemed to know where the ship was on a map when he looked at one while wearing it.

Uncle’s mask looked vaguely dragonesque, and Iroh hung it on his wall in his quarters, though he never actually wore it. He’d thanked mother for the gift, but claimed that his days of being a dragon were over.

Mother had then made him an enchanted teapot that always kept the water at the perfect temperature, and that gift was much better received. Uncle spent most of his days in the green room, tending to all of the plants there. His rare and exotic tea plant collection was flourishing and he couldn’t wait till the first harvest of leaves.

He would be the first person in centuries to taste tea made from the petals of a Soulbloom, an extinct variety of flower that was said to glow with a pale inner light. Legends said that upon tasting it, one would be graced with visions of loved ones long since passed. 

Mother had done a double take upon seeing the buds and had left muttering about impossible quests and thorns in unmentionable places, and some person called Ze’mer, whoever that was.

* * *

  
  


After a couple of weeks on the open sea, Zuko was getting restless. He wanted to run, to fly free, to hide in greenery and stalk something, to hunt. After months of constantly traveling and hunting with Mother, being cooped up on a relatively small ship and having all his meals provided was starting to grate on him.

Despite trying his hardest to ignore the feeling, Zuko became increasingly high-strung, often becoming angry at minor inconveniences. All the crew noticed, especially Uncle. When Zuko finally confessed what was bothering him, Uncle grew concerned and drug him along to go talk to Mother about it.

When they did, Mother had seemed only mildly surprised, and explained it as his predatory instincts being unsatisfied. When Zuko had asked why Mother didn’t seem similarly bothered, they replied that their instincts were totally different. 

They only had a solid, physical body because they underwent metamorphosis, their natural state of being was a giant mass of pure Void, which came with its own set of behaviors.

Because Mother technically required no sustenance, being able to sustain themselves off of Void and a bit of Soul, they had no particular instinct regarding food, aside from seeking out places with high magic concentrations when they became tired, which explained why they hung out in the engine room so much. They just enjoyed the taste of food too, and so had given their new body the capability to eat.

The Crystal Heart put out a lot of power, and Mother found its presence relaxing, even though it made most everyone else aside from the twins jittery.

They further explained their nesting instincts, and their naturally possessive nature. The Void collected things and held them close. People, treasure, it didn’t matter. Zuko joked that Mother sounded a bit like how the old legends described dragons and their hoards. Mother agreed that it was similar enough a comparison. 

One of Mother’s stronger instincts was to avoid light and stick to shadowy areas, which made sense to Zuko. Apparently they were able to suppress that particular instinct most of the time, but they kept their corner of the cargo hold as dark as possible, and preferred sleeping in burrows or caves instead of out in the open.

Mother went on to describe what instincts Zuko was likely to have, due to his ancestry and recent adoption. The line of Grimm were consummate ambush predators, who ate a primarily meat-based diet and were exceptional at stealth when it was called for, but could also put on quite a show.

They enjoyed heights and their leathery wings had rudimentary claws at the joint on the top of the wing, which allowed them to be adept climbers. The type of wings they had allowed for certain aerial movements which regular insect-like wings would find much more difficult to replicate, like the steep, swooping dives they often favored.

Insect wings had to buzz and flap many times to achieve flight, and could not remain stationary to glide, and so pulling out of extremely steep dives quickly like that was much harder and was inherently riskier.

Apparently Grimm had also preferred sleeping upside-down like a wolf-bat, which explained why Zuko was finding his bed increasingly less comfortable to sleep in.

Grimm’s territoriality was also notorious. His space was very much HIS, and he loathed anyone touching his things or going anywhere near his private rooms, except for Mother of course, who he very much enjoyed having in his quarters. 

Mother had looked especially amused and delighted at Zuko’s flustered and embarrassed expression when he realized what they had been implying with that statement

Mother’s explanations helped Zuko understand much better why he was feeling the way he was, and asked for tips on how to manage his new instincts.

Mother suggested that the _Wani_ make a stop near a landmass where Zuko could go out and run and hunt things for a few hours, and to attempt to sleep upside down by sticking to the ceiling of his room with his hoof-claws. Zuko had retained the ability to stick to things like he had when he used the Mantis Claw after he’d been adopted.

He was intrigued at the mechanics of sleeping like that, but wondered about how blankets would work. Grimm had apparently wrapped himself in his large leathery wings, but Zuko’s wings were like Mother’s and didn’t work like that.

Mother had suggested a special blanket that would have ties so that Zuko could attach it to his ankles and he could then just wrap himself in it like an eggroll. It sounded ridiculous, but if it would help Zuko finally get a truly restful sleep, he’d do it. 

While he’d slept fine on the ground in the nests when he’d been traveling with Mother, they’d always slept curled around him, and now that he was sleeping by himself again, he was finding sleep to be increasingly more difficult to achieve.

Uncle had looked a little concerned upon hearing about his new inherent need to go out and find things to kill and eat, but didn’t want to deprive Zuko of something he’d need to stay healthy mentally. Zuko later thanked Uncle for being supportive and not freaking out or banning him from hunting. Uncle had just looked so happy at Zuko being willing to talk about his feelings in any capacity. 

* * *

Iroh didn’t want to drive his Nephew away, and if he was so much happier with his new state of being, then by all the gods, Iroh was going to be the best, most supportive uncle he could possibly be. He just didn’t want Zuko to lose himself and forget that he had been human, first and foremost.

Just being around Iroh and the crew seemed to do a fine job of that, so Iroh wasn’t too worried about his Nephew taking a few-day’s trip to satisfy his newer, more feral side. Iroh made sure the pair took the Dreamnail with them, this time, making sure that a Dreamgate had been prepared in advance. Iroh was not losing his nephew for another two months, not again. The first time had been more than enough.

* * *

The crew had decided to make a weekend of the whole thing. Iroh decided to stay behind on the _Wani_ to keep it safe, and the rest of the small crew took the single small skiff to travel upriver to a nearby Fire Nation colony that was celebrating the Fire Days Festival, a celebration of Fire Nation culture which would have all the typical festival fare.

Zuko had awkwardly asked Aza to get him at least three bags of fire flakes, the spiciest variety she could find, since Zuko would be spending the two days hunting with Ghost, and couldn’t go to the festival anyway with his new appearance. Aza looked delighted at her ‘mission’ and promised that she wouldn’t fail him.

The crew had all brought their masks, as all Fire Nation Festivals all had masks as part of the festivities. The twins were delighted at the prospect of wearing theirs out in public and getting to freak people out a bit.

The two groups had parted ways at the riverbank, with the crew bringing pouches of spending money and an extra set of clothes, since they’d all be spending the night in a local inn to enjoy the three day festival for as long as they could.

* * *

Dear Heart and Mother sped through the trees, away from the noisy town. They ran for hours, just enjoying the exertion, and playing a bit of an impromptu game of tag on the way.

They ran and played, shrieking like the wild things they were as they chased each other through the underbrush as well as the air. They eventually stopped to rest, and Mother started to dig a burrow for the night and Dear Heart set off to hunt down dinner.

Dear Heart had eventually managed to track down another water-deer and was already salivating at the thought of getting to eat as much meat as he wanted. Last time he’d caught a water-deer, he’d had to share it with the entire crew as well as Uncle.

Not this time. This time it was just him and Mother. Dear Heart stalked it soundlessly through the forest, his enhanced senses making the whole thing child’s play. He perched in a tree and readied his stinger. 

Again, he ambushed it from above and ended its life swiftly. He could not help but let out a shriek of victory. He hooked all his claws in its flesh before he spread his wings and flew off with his prize only slightly slower than he would’ve without such a burden.

* * *

The sound of his triumph and the rapid buzzing of his wings neatly disguised the noise of another hunter across the clearing scrambling away in a panic. His master needed to know about this!

Something was in the forest!

* * *

Dear Heart awoke slowly the next morning, still feeling fat from all the meat he’d eaten yesterday. Mother nuzzled the top of his head and he learned into it, purring. He sat still while Mother groomed his fluff and returned the favor after his was done. 

Life was good. 

* * *

Meanwhile, the crew of the _Wani_ was enjoying all the festivities, eating too much festival food and watching all the performances. They got many comments on the matching themes of all their masks, and were just generally having a great time enjoying a small taste of home for the first time in much too long.

Their good time was shattered on the second day when the Avatar had disrupted a very well-done firebending performance. The boy had jumped on stage and prematurely ended the entire thing, but the confetti had been a nice touch.

The town, of course, immediately descended into chaos as people recognized the boy’s airbending tattoos. There had been a board of wanted posters featuring the boy’s likeness and a somewhat poor rendition of their captain’s mask at the entrance to the town. 

The Avatar’s poster had simply labelled him as an enemy of the Fire Nation and nothing else besides him being wanted dead or alive, and a substantial reward that could be collected from any major Fire Nation outpost. 

Their captain’s poster had listed him as a masked thief, and he was wanted alive by order of Admiral Zhao, with an even bigger reward listed, but one that had to be collected from the Admiral himself. 

Aza had quietly taken one of each poster and rolled them up into her bag.

The crew enjoyed the free show, but generally stayed out of the chaos themselves. They had no reason to go after the Avatar, after all. Not anymore.

They watched as the slippery airbender escaped with the help of a cloaked stranger, and a timely save from his massive flying pet bison. They enjoyed the colorful chaos of all the fireworks going off at once, but soon went back to the inn to gather their things and head back to the skiff.

Knowing their captain, he’d be involved with whatever came next, even if he didn’t mean to get involved.

* * *

Dear Heart was enjoying a simple game of ‘Don’t Let the Ball of Soul Touch the Ground’ by himself while Mother hunted for dinner, when he spotted the Avatar’s bison flying overhead. The bubble of Soul popped on the ground, unnoticed. 

He made the decision to follow the Avatar’s bison, for while he had no interest in catching the boy, Dear Heart couldn’t help but be curious as to what he was doing here.

He followed the bison easily, flying just above the treeline. Turns out the pair had been just a few minutes flight from stumbling onto a hidden encampment. The bison landed in a small clearing, but the passengers disembarked, only to be threatened with spears by the settlement’s inhabitants. The Avatar and friends were led away towards a lone hut.

Dear Heart put his stealth skills to good use and got to snooping, sticking to the shadows.

* * *

Unbeknownst to anyone, a certain Admiral had gotten word of the Avatar’s dramatic escape, and was back in the town, interrogating the local garrison of soldiers. 

On his way to the river boats, he reviewed the massive, ancient scroll, and double checked the carvings on the small stone disk he’d slaved for weeks over. While he was unsure if his true target would show up, where one did, the other didn’t seem to be too far behind.

The smile Zhao had on his face would’ve scared even the most battle-hardened soldier, for no sane man could smile like that.

* * *

Dear Heart watched curiously as the Avatar was refused entry into the small hut, only to insist on going in. Dear Heart snuck around the back of the hut and gently pressed his horns to the walls of the hut to better listen in on the conversation.

* * *

“Get out,” Came a gruff voice, clearly not happy.

“Master, I need to learn firebending,” Came the Avatar’s voice.

“Only a fool seeks his own destruction.”

“I'm the Avatar, it's my destiny to—” The Avatar was abruptly cut off by the other man, who was now angry.

“Destiny? What would a boy know of destiny? If a fish lives its whole life in this river, does he know the river's destiny? No! Only that it runs on and on out of his control! He may follow where it flows, but he cannot see the end. He cannot imagine the ocean.”

“Okay, but it's the Avatar's duty to master all of the bending disciplines.” 

“To master the bending disciplines, you must first master discipline itself. But you have no interest in this, so I have no interest in you! Now, get out.”

“Please, I have to learn. This could be my only chance!” The Avatar pleaded.

“Are you deaf? How can I teach you if you refuse to listen? Before learning firebending you must learn water and earth. Water is cool and soothing, earth is steady and stable, but fire, fire is alive! It breathes, it grows. Without the bender, a rock will not throw itself! But fire will spread and destroy everything in its path if one does not have the will to control it! That is its destiny! You are not ready! You are too weak!” The other man yelled.

Dear Heart could feel the small flames, probably candles inside the hut, flare up massively before dying away, all except one. Suddenly, Dear Heart could feel a shift in the air. 

It felt like Essence was being used! But, this was in the Real World, and Mother certainly wasn’t anywhere near! What was going on in there? Dear Heart wished his collection of powers let him see through walls, but no luck.

* * *

After the strange feeling left the air, the pair exited the hut, and Dear Heart couldn’t believe his eyes! There, beside the Avatar, was Jeong Jeong the Deserter! The man was a legend! Was the man hiding here the whole time after he deserted the Fire Nation’s military?

Dear Heart made the mistake of letting out a breath of disbelief, but the Deserter must have heard him, for the man turned swiftly in his direction, but Dear Heart was already Shadow Dashing away toward better cover. That was close!

* * *

“Is something wrong, Master?” Aang asked upon seeing the man turn sharply toward the forest.

Jeong Jeong scanned the forest. He could’ve sworn he’d seen something out of the corner of his eye. It must be lingering paranoia after the spirit vision he’d seen and the ominous warning one of his men had given him yesterday. “No. It’s nothing.”

* * *

Dear Heart watched in disbelief as the Deserter completely butchered the teaching of firebending. The man had clearly never taught anyone in his life, or he had been exceptionally bad at it. 

Meditation by connecting with the sun was a very advanced technique! New firebenders always, _always_ started with candles!

The only thing he’d gotten right was the importance of breath control in firebending, but the Avatar was already a master airbender, if there’s one thing airbenders knew how to do, it was control their breathing!

Maybe the Deserter was trying to punish the Avatar for needling him into violating the natural bending cycle and skipping straight to firebending?

Dear Heart followed the pair for hours, and grew increasingly angry at the ostrich-horseshit that the Deserter was peddling as wisdom!

Fire could be destructive and dangerous when not controlled, but that wasn’t what firebending was truly about at all! Mother had taught him that firebending was drive, it was burning passion, it was love and light and warmth!

* * *

Dear Heart couldn’t take it anymore. The Avatar was literally playing with fire, someone was going to get hurt! 

The boy clearly didn’t respect it enough, and sure enough, the Avatar blasted out a ring of fire, and it was headed straight for the Water Tribe girl! 

Zuko leapt from his hiding place and stood protectively in front of the girl, wrapping his four arms around her as he turned and shielded her from the approaching flames with his body.

The fire washed over him, completely harmless. The girl shrieked in fear at his sudden appearance, but he released her as soon as the flames had dissipated.

Zuko whirled on the Avatar, the Nightmare Heart flaring brighter in his anger.

“I knew you were an airhead, but this iss going too far! You almosst burned Katara!” He yelled furiously.

“Zuko! What are you doing here?!” The Avatar shouted in surprise.

“Evidently, I’m ssaving people from your own carelesssnesss! Idiot! The bending cycle is a cycle for a reasson, you can’t jusst sskip it! If I wassn’t here, you could have sserioussly hurt her!”

The Water Tribe boy came running in, presumably after hearing all the shouting. “Zuko?!” then he spotted his sister standing behind Zuko, who looked strangely protective. His sister looked frightened and was staring at Aang in what looked almost like betrayal, “Aang, what did you do?!”

“If I hadn’t stepped in, your sister would’ve been burned quite badly by the Avatar’s reckless bending,” Zuko said tightly, crossing both pairs of arms in disapproval. Zuko turned back to the Avatar, “I get that the Deserter was a shitty teacher, but that’s no excuse to mess with fire like that!”

“It was an accident! I was, uh... Katara, I'm so--” The Avatar was cut off by the Water Tribe boy tackling him to the ground. 

Zuko was impressed at how quickly the boy leapt to her defense. Zuko approved. Family, _real_ family anyways, always came first. Sokka had earned a small amount of respect in Zuko’s books

“I told you we shouldn't mess around with this! Look what you did! _You almost burned my sister_!” Sokka yelled.

Suddenly, Jeong Jeong came around the corner, probably to see what all the yelling was about. He stopped short upon spotting Zuko and the Nightmare Heart that flared brightly above his head. Jeong Jeong slid into an offensive stance. “Creature, these children have done you no harm! Release them!”

Zuko stared at the Deserter, unimpressed. He scoffed and shook his head, the Nightmare Heart dimming back down with his cooling emotions.

“Wow. Rude, much? If you want to yell at ssomeone for endangering the children, yell at the Avatar over there. He’ss the one who dissregarded all your warningss to play with fire, not me! And I have a name, assshole, and it’ss not ‘creature’!”

* * *

That response brought Jeong Jeong up short. He took a few more moments to assess the situation. The Avatar was being held down by the girl’s brother, and the girl herself was almost hiding behind the creature, who was most likely a spirit, and looking like she didn’t know what to do. He eased out of his stance and attempted to salvage the situation.

“Ah, my apologies, I misread the situation. What may I call you?”

“The Sscarlet Sspirit will ssuffice.” The now-named spirit said. The Avatar looked confused.

“But that’s not--” The boy was silenced by a truly vicious-looking glare from the spirit.

The situation was tense. The spirit spoke up again.

“Well, the ssituation sseemss ressolved, I’ll be going now. Mother is mosst likely waiting for me.” The spirit said, before spreading previously-hidden wings, only to be stopped by a fireblast that ripped through the trees to blast it backwards. It landed with a splash in the shallow section of the water, where it struggled a bit to right itself without damaging its suddenly soaked wings.

Admiral Zhao stepped out from behind the burning trees, “Look at this, the abomination the Avatar, and my old traitor of a teacher, all together. It must be my birthday.” He said smugly.

“Avatar, take your friends and run, I’ll hold him off!” Jeong Jeong yelled, readying himself for a serious fight.

“We’ll see about that. Men! Capture the Deserter and the Avatar, I’ll handle the spirit!”

More soldiers swarmed out of the trees to surround Jeong Jeong while a small number chased the swiftly fleeing Avatar and his friends.

* * *

Zuko struggled to pull himself out of the shallow water without ripping his delicate wings. They were totally soaked and had gotten partially buried under the silty riverbed. He struggled somewhat upright just in time to catch Zhao’s boot across his face. He felt one of his chelicerae snap under the sudden force. It hung down limply from his face

Zuko screeched in pain and ripped himself upright off the ground. He felt the membranes of some of his wings rip. It hurt so bad, but he ignored it to blast fire at Zhao, who dodged, but he appeared to drop something on the sand. 

It looked like some sort of stone disk, and that was all Zuko was able to determine before his world exploded in light and pain.

Zuko was blinded and felt something catch on his limbs. They were wire thin and cut burning lines into his shell. He screeched in pain and tried to Shadow Dash out of whatever was trapping him, but that just made everything hurt worse!

He struggled and thrashed and blasted fire everywhere, flash-boiling the shallow water he was laying in, but it was no use. Everything he did just made everything hurt worse! He eventually stopped when the threads tightened enough to start actually cutting into his shell. He’s pretty sure he’d lost a wing or two to the threads and his own frantic thrashing.

It hurt so bad. It burned almost as bad as when he received his scar. Tears involuntarily left his eyes. It hurt so much. He wanted Mother to come save him. Mother would save him, right?

* * *

Zhao was smiling so wide his cheeks ached. It was happening! He’d done it! The spirit abomination the Prince had become thrashed and screeched like a wild animal. Zhao noticed that the creature had managed to rip off two of its own wings and damage the others in its pathetic attempts to escape.

Zhao frowned. It would be less useful if it couldn’t fly, but then again, he didn’t even know the thing had wings before today. It hadn’t displayed them when it had stolen the Avatar, probably because of the rain, now that he thought about it.

Whatever, it changed nothing about his master plan anyway. He waited until the dumb thing had tired itself out. Its fire was certainly strong, the riverbed had been boiled into glass in certain places.

Oh, it was crying and making sad little noises now, how pathetic. 

Zhao swaggered up to the downed spirit and crouched down in front of its face. It hissed at him and tried to spit some of its acid at him, only for nothing to happen. Zhao had accounted for everything, of course.

“I wonder if there’s any of the Prince’s mind left inside you? I’d imagine not, but it doesn’t matter. Even the simplest of wild beasts can be broken and taught to obey orders. Luckily for me, I brought a shortcut.”

Zhao reached into a hidden pocket and retrieved another stone disk, this one even more complex. It pulsed with strange power in his hand. 

“You obey me now.”

He brought the disk up and pressed it to the beast’s forehead, directly below the strange fireball it had floating above its head. It seemed to twitch and pulse frantically, like a heartbeat. Disgusting.

The creature struggled more as the binding took effect. A flash of light, and the fire in its eyes dimmed to mere flickers of what it was. Perfect. He walked over to the other disk and smashed it beneath a boot.

The glowing lines that bound the spirit vanished.

“Get up.” Zhao ordered the spirit, “Come over here.”

It jerkily rose, like a badly controlled puppet. Its remaining wings trailed limply on the ground, tattered and useless. It walked up to him. The thing was taller than him, just a bit. Zhao didn’t like that.

“Kneel.” He ordered again.

The light in the creature’s eyes flared up a bit. It shuddered a bit where it stood, clearly fighting the order. Hmpf, the thing had a bit of the Prince’s pride left over, it seemed. How annoying. Zhao would take great pleasure in stamping it out of the beast. Slaves didn’t have pride. They didn’t need it.

“KNEEL!” Zhao yelled, repeating the order with more force. The beast dropped to its knees, arms hanging limply at its side. Zhao smiled sinisterly, “Shut up and hold still.”

He walked behind the beast and looked at its back, where its wings were connected to it. They seemed to be attached under a flap of shell that was partially hidden by the mass of red fur that grew out around its neck and shoulders. 

Zhao reached for the base of the remaining wings before yanking forcefully. It took a bit of twisting, but he soon removed the remains of the creature’s useless wings. Its black blood spattered on the ground, where it sizzled before drying near instantly. 

The beast literally had blood that boiled! How amusing! He laughed, drunk on the feeling of his own victory.

“Get up and follow me.” 

Zhao walked ahead of his new servant, and so he didn’t notice the way one of its hands clenched into a fist, shaking with rage and pain.

* * *

Deep in the nearby forest, an ancient force of darkness was brought to its knees, scaring off the prey they had been hunting. The bond was screaming.

**_[HELPHELPHELPITHURTSITHURTSMOTHERHELPME]_ **

Ghost screeched in alarm and tried to dive into the bond to find out where their baby was. They only managed to get a vague sense of direction before the bond seemed to sever.

Their entire brain slammed to a halt. The bond was gone. The bond was _gone_.

~~_(he’sdeadhe’sdeadyoufailedyoufailedyourbaby)(notagainnotagain)(babywhereareyou)(can’tbedeadcan’tbedead)(nononononoNONONONONO)_ **_(NO)_ ** ~~

Ghost dove back into their side of the bond. Their baby was not dead. He _wasn’t._ Ghost wouldn’t allow it. They’d go back to the Abyss and pour every last drop of their power into turning back time until he wasn’t. They’d drain themselves dry forever if it meant their baby got to live. ~~_(hecan’tbedead)_ ~~

There! They felt something! An echo of something! They rushed their mental presence towards it, only to be brutally stopped. 

It was like slamming into a wall made of everything painful they’d ever experienced. Every thorn, every spike, every pit of acid, every exploding Uoma, every fucking buzzsaw in the goddamned White Palace, condensed down into a single moment.

They screeched in agony, almost losing cohesion, so great was the pain.

But it was something. The bond was still there, but something was blocking it.

_(theirbaby’snotdead)(he’salive)(savehimsavehim)_

They took flight toward the direction they’d gotten before the bond became blocked. They flew faster than they ever had before. Their form was wispy at the edges, denatured.

* * *

They found a burning riverbank and put it out. They didn’t want the flames to destroy any potential clues. They searched around the small encampment, eventually stumbling across a heat-blasted riverbed. A flash of red on the sand. They leaned down to see what it was and then recoiled in horror. It was a wing, tattered and damaged and pulled out at the root.

Their baby’s wing.

There were more, scattered across the sand. They counted six. Someone had ripped their baby’s wings off. _Someone was going to die._

They shunted their incalculable rage to the side, they needed a clear head. Cling to the anger, but don’t let it control you. Save it for when you have the offender between your claws. _(betweenyourteeth)_

They found the remains of a stone disk, etched with carvings. They gathered up each piece they could find, and tried to slot some of the bigger pieces together, gluing them together with sticky Void. 

Their rage reached new heights. The trees around them withered and died. The stone beneath their hoof-claws cracked from age. The grass turned to dust. The shadows thrashed. 

Someone had bound their baby with seals.

Images flashed in their mind. Images of their sibling hung from a ceiling in chains, suffering. Their sibling stabbing themselves in the arena in Godhome, trying to kill themselves. ~~_(trying to help)_ ~~

_Someone was going to be_ **_ERASED._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, its finally happened!! zhao is super dead by the way, like no one will even come close to how dead zhao is gonna be. mama ghost is out for zhao's soul. no, not his Soul, but the other thing. yeah, that. >:) idk yet how much gore there's gonna be, but i will put a trigger warning for the scene so the squeamish or sensitive can skip it.


	32. Long Live The Nightmare King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOO!! we're finally at the north pole, bitches!! also i was totally listening to various pirates of the caribbean music while i wrote this. davy jones music box theme came on while i was writing the sad part, i legit cried a little, it was so perfect. :,) I added a trigger warning for zhao's death scene, its not overly gory but it is fckin intense. ghost just went full eldritch beast, b/c fuck consequences, also more references to things b/c i cant help myself :)

Ghost reeled in their rage. They had to go rescue their baby, they could have a breakdown later. They didn’t know for sure who had done this, but they had a hunch.

Their memories of the show had become less and less reliable so far, and more and more details were starting to fade, but they could vaguely recall that there was some sort of confrontation here between the Avatar...and someone else, someone familiar, but who?

They wracked their brain for the answer before it hit them like a bolt of lightning.

_ Zhao. _

That _maggot sucking whore._ He was going to die, in the most painful way Ghost could think of. This was the start of the North Pole Arc. Zhao was planning on killing the moon spirit.

In the show, Zuko had gotten there somehow, they didn’t remember how, and almost captured Aang. There had been a fight, and Zhao had killed the white fish, which caused the moon to disappear.

When Hallownest had been around, Ghost was pretty sure there hadn’t been a moon, and life had gotten on just fine, but now life had adapted to its presence and bad things would happen if it were to disappear.

Now, Ghost didn’t particularly care about much besides Zuko and Iroh and the crew of the  _ Wani  _ to a lesser extent, but Zuko certainly did. That boy loved much too hard, cared too much. It was one of the reasons Ghost adored him so much. Zuko would be sad if the Fire Nation suffered because the moon disappeared, so.

Priorities.

The first and most important, of course, was finding their baby and making sure he was safe.

The second was brutally murdering Zhao in front of as many people as possible, as an example of what happened when you hurt the people Ghost loved. What they did to the Radiance would look like a tickle fight in comparison.

While the Radiance had also been a maggot sucking whore, she had never really gone after Ghost personally, their friends and family had just suffered as everyone did because of the Infection.

Their rat bastard of a father was more to blame for their suffering than she was, if Ghost was being honest. While she was the root cause of the suffering, it was the Pale King that had come up with the stupid-ass Vessel plan in the first place.

They were getting distracted.

Third priority was keeping the moon spirit from being keeled in the first place, because then that innocent white-haired girl would have to sacrifice herself to bring the moon back.

Fourth was making sure the ocean spirit didn’t fuse with the Avatar and completely wipe out the Fire Nation’s navy. There were probably hundreds of soldiers on those ships that had families and loved ones and didn’t particularly agree with invading the North Pole, anyway. Zuko would be so sad if all those people died when they didn’t even agree with Zhao’s stupid plan.

Now, how would they get to the North Pole as quickly as possible? Even if they pushed the engine as fast as it could go, they would still have to sail around the massive peninsula, which would take way too long.

Then, Ghost remembered some of the wilder ideas they had entertained as a brain exercise with the twins. It would work. _It had to._

_ Their baby was counting on them. _

* * *

The crew all started slightly when the Dreamgate started glowing and Ghost appeared on the ship, and were then all bowled over by the nearly palpable force of their anger. 

Their Captain was nowhere to be seen.

“Ghost, where is my Nephew?” Iroh asked worriedly.

Ghost gave them a look, before they were all blasted with a mental image of black blood, wings in the sand, and a broken stone disk.

**_[GONEGONETAKENSTOLENAWAY]_ **

“WHAT?!” Iroh bellowed,  _ “Who?” _ He whispered in a deadly serious tone. This was the Dragon of the West speaking now.

**_[ZHAOTOOKMYBABYHURTHIMSTOLEHISWINGSSTOLEHIMAWAY]_ **

“I see. I’m guessing you have a plan, then?” Iroh asked, way too calm for the situation.

**_[YES]_ **

Ghost sucked in a deep breath they didn’t truly need through their sides before turning to look at the twins, who had rushed up on deck once they’d heard Ghost’s mental screaming.

**Nako, Noko, I’m officially approving Project: Modern Warfare, as well as Project: Flying Dutchman.**

“You mean..?” One of the twins breathed.

**Yes. Let’s get this boat in the air. We have places to be. Drop your crocs and grab your socks, because we’re going to the North Pole. Let’s move it, people! Go, go, go!**

Everyone scrambled to obey. Ghost followed the twins to the engine room where they retrieved the plans they had made weeks ago. They unrolled the blueprints. It was time to get to work.

Aza and Li took the komodo-rhinos and rode back to town to gather necessary supplies. They pushed the rhinos hard, but time was of the essence.

Ghost worked around the clock carving, channeling, and casting. They crawled all over the outside hull of the ship, even underwater, in order to carve the necessary runes. The twins took breaks to eat and sleep, but were also hard at work to modify the frequency of the Crystal Heart and complete their newest upgrade to the ship.

Iroh had to eventually pull the ‘You can’t help Zuko if you collapse from exhaustion’ card in order to get Ghost to take breaks to rest.

It took three days, but they were finally ready. New controls were installed in the helm, and Ghost gave the twins the honor of hitting the proverbial ‘big red button’.

* * *

The  _ Wani _ shook and a low bass hum started up that everyone felt more in their bones and teeth than anything else. The previously bright pink runes all over the ship turned an ominous dark red.

There was a sound like crackling glass as enormous crystals grew out of the bottom of the  _ Wani _ , near the back, in two enormous sheets that looked sort of like flippers or small wings. A spine of crystals grew along where a keel might have gone, starting from about a third of the way back from the bow.

The  _ Wani _ shook a little bit more before it stabilized. The sound of rushing water could be heard from below the ship. Iroh and the crew, not including the twins, watched in awe as the ocean fell away from them as the  _ Wani _ rose into the air, completely disregarding the laws of physics.

The twins threw back their heads and cackled with glee. They’d done it! Take that, all their teachers who said they’d flunk out of engineering school! Let’s see them create a magic airship! 

Ghost pulled levers and pressed buttons before yanking the wheel of the ship to the side, sharply turning the flying ship. They pushed a T shaped lever forward as they gunned the engine. The Wani moved forwards at an increasingly fast pace. 

Ghost had enchanted everyone’s masks to function as oxygen filters, so people could be out on the deck without suffocating or having trouble breathing in the thinner air. They rose high into the sky, higher than even a sky bison or dragon could. 

The crew marveled at the previously unknown aerial viewpoint, but their moods were kept serious as they knew the only reason they were seeing it at all was because their beloved Captain had been stolen away by a madman.

* * *

They made fantastic time by just flying directly across the peninsula instead of sailing around it, but Ghost didn’t know if they’d beat Zhao to the North Pole. He’d had quite the head start on them, plus the main fleet was likely already on its way before their baby had been stolen and was only waiting for Zhao to play catch-up in a smaller, faster ship.

The _Wani_ passed by the Northern Air Temple, and the crew were surprised to see people living there, after having obviously renovated it. Ghost glared at the place. The Avatar had better already be on his way to the North Pole if he knew what was good for him.

God help him if Ghost’s plans got messed up because he was too busy goofing off.

* * *

The mechanist watched through his telescope, jaw on the floor. That was clearly an old model of Fire Nation cruiser, but it was flying! Great red crystals grew out from the bottom of it, seemingly propelling the great metal ship through the sky. 

He looked through the telescope and refocused it some more, zooming in on a figure he could see standing on the deck. It was very tall, and very clearly not human. It had four arms and a bone-white mask adorned with a pair of great forking horns, and eyes that were like pits, swallowing any light that reached them.

It looked angry, murderously so, but the ship wasn’t even facing them, it was just passing by, apparently. Another creature in a very spiky mask came and gently pulled the taller one away from the edge of the deck. 

The mechanist couldn’t believe it, a flying spirit ship!

Teo was never going to believe him!

* * *

Zhao had great fun ordering his new servant around, making it do menial tasks and just generally humiliating it. It had stopped fighting orders a while ago, all the fight seeming to have left it. Good.

He laughed and ordered it to polish all his boots. It did so without complaint or a single bit of fire lighting its eyes. He had fun kicking its legs out from under it and watching it struggle to stand. 

The strange little fireball above its head had gone out after the first couple of days, along with the remaining light in its eyes. 

Zhao had been mildly concerned he’d killed it somehow, at first, but the thing still responded to orders just fine, so he didn’t think too much about it.

Zhao could hardly wait to arrive at the North Pole. He had plans to use the beast to scout out the city and lead him right to the spirit oasis. Once there, he’d order the creature to kill the moon spirit.

By using a proxy, Zhao would neatly sidestep any potential spirit curses, getting away scot-free and having the world remember his name for all time, as the man who’d slain the moon and conquered the Northern Water Tribe!

* * *

Zuko retreated further and further into himself, to escape the pain and hunger and humiliation. He’d withdrawn deep into his mind, unknowingly sending his mind into the Dream Realm, where the truest representation of the Nightmare Heart existed. 

The flame he’d carried around had been the real thing, but when he’d brought it back with him into the Dream Realm and immersed himself in it, it had finally, truly reconnected with the fabric of the Dream Realm. For the first time in uncountable centuries, the Nightmare Realm and the Dream Realm were whole again.

Zuko encased his mind in it, and slept. Mother would rescue him soon, he was sure, he could vaguely feel their determination and rage when he really concentrated on the bond.

The binding blocked it quite soundly, and it was very painful to push it too hard, but pain was an old friend to Zuko, and as long as he didn’t mentally touch the barrier, the pain was manageable.

He breathed with the beating of the Nightmare Heart, truly connecting with it in a way he hadn’t ever known he could do. He curled around himself and let the flames wash around him, through him. His inner fire was subsumed by the new beating heart in his chest, right where it was always meant to be.

The Nightmare Heart beat onward, and Zuko lost himself to it, rousing only occasionally when Zhao hit his physical body especially hard. He was still connected to it, could still see out of its eyes, but when all that was there for him to see was Zhao’s ugly mug and being forced to complete humiliating tasks, there wasn’t much reason to look.

The only good thing was the crew of Zhao’s ship. They sometimes snuck him food and water, and Zuko was grateful. Zhao didn’t appear to realize that he still needed food and water, or maybe he did and just didn’t care if Zuko died. Without them, Zuko likely would have died of dehydration days ago.

Zuko’s mental form rolled over inside the Nightmare Heart, turning away from the sight Zhao ordering him to scrub the floor with a toothbrush. His shell was uncomfortable, like it was too tight. He figured it was just the hunger and exhaustion getting to him.

The fires around him surged, and Zuko slept on.

* * *

Zhao’s crew was becoming increasingly concerned. The man had returned from his attempt to capture the Avatar and had instead returned with some sort of spirit monster. Zhao claimed to have subdued it utterly, and it did obey his every command, no matter how menial, but the crew couldn’t help but squirm whenever it was in the same room as them. 

It didn’t seem right to treat any living thing that way, even a terrifying spirit monster. The crew all knew that even the meekest beaten cat-dog would always lash out eventually, so they gave it what small kindnesses they could, in the hopes it would spare them when that eventually happened.

Zhao hardly ever let it rest, and didn’t seem to feed it or give the poor thing any water. After a few days it had started to lose weight, becoming even more angular and thin. The crew snuck it bowls of water and some bread when they thought they could get away with it.

The creature ate and drank, but did not react to them otherwise. The stone disk on its head pulsed faintly with a sickly white glow. Despite it not reacting to the crew when they managed to give it sustenance, the crew swore they could feel its gratitude.

* * *

When the _Wani_ descended beneath the clouds, they could see the invasion fleet was already there. 

Ghost activated the camouflage spell that they had built into the _Wani_ , inspired by an old movie they had watched where a massive flying boat could do the same, using technology.

It was part of a long series of films, they recalled, but they remembered not liking the ending because it seemed unfair. They couldn’t really remember anything else about it though.

The _Wani_ sailed soundlessly through the sky, unseen by anyone at all. It appeared as though the Northern Water tribe had been under siege for some time, with soldiers already swarming the streets.

The moon was high and full in the sky, and Ghost desperately hoped they weren’t too late.

* * *

Zuko was wide awake now. Zhao had ordered him to locate some kind of spirit oasis in the heart of the Northern Water Tribe, and then come back and guide Zhao to it. He knew struggling against the bindings was next to useless, but he’d try if something truly horrible was about to happen.

Zuko had a sinking feeling in his gut that something was.

He used his stealth skills against his will and soon located a heavily-guarded wooden door. This must be it. His body turned to go fetch Zhao against his will, and Zuko despaired. He wanted Mother.

* * *

Deep in the spirit world, Aang searched fruitlessly for the moon and ocean spirits. Roku had eventually found him, and while he didn’t know where the spirits were, he had a few warnings to pass onto Aang. 

Apparently there was a comet that came by every hundred years and gave firebenders unimaginable power, and Ozai was going to use it to end the war decisively.

Another was that there was a spirit that sounded an awful lot like Zuko, but was insanely powerful and had killed Koh the Face-Stealer like it was nothing. Roku despaired, for Koh was one of the only spirits old enough to know where the moon and ocean spirits were.

Aang figured the other spirit was probably the mysterious ‘Mother’ Zuko always talked about after hearing Roku’s account of the one time he’d seen the pair. They sounded very protective over Zuko.

Aang hoped that Zuko had gotten away from Zhao. He was probably fine, Zuko took on an entire canyon’s worth of Canyon Crawlers without breaking a sweat, and he had freed Aang from that huge fortress just fine too! He had surely gotten away from Zhao just fine, right?

Aang had a sinking feeling in his gut that he was wrong, though.

After discussing more theories about where the spirits could be with Roku, Aang had stumbled onto the right answer. It was the koi fish! Push and pull, balance, yin and yang, it all made sense!

Aang thanked Roku for his help and then needed to request a little more to exit the spirit world.

He snapped back into his body just in time for the door to the oasis to explode.

* * *

Zhao could hardly contain his excitement! Everything was going according to plan! 

He removed a large, elaborate dagger made from a dragon’s tooth and handed it to the spirit creature.

“When we reach the oasis, grab the white fish from the pond and kill the spirit with this while we distract whoever else is in there to defend it. Sneak around the others and take it out quickly.” Zhao instructed. The creature led the group around a corner, and Zhao saw the wooden door.

_ It was time. _

He ruthlessly dispatched all the guards by the door and blasted it apart. He and his men stepped inside and took in the scenery. 

The Avatar was sitting in a meditative pose, looking dazed, but he soon jumped up in alarm when Zhao and his men stepped through the destroyed door. 

“Men! Secure the Avatar and kill the others! It’s time to end this!” He yelled dramatically, trying to divert everyone’s attention. The spirit beast stuck to the shadows as instructed, and Zhao focused on distracting the others.

* * *

Aang and the others struggled against Zhao and his men, when suddenly the moon turned red and Zhao started laughing in triumph. Aang felt faint and heard Yue cry out in alarm behind him, and he turned and what he saw turned his blood to ice.

Zuko was standing next to the spirit oasis, with the struggling moon spirit clutched in one hand and the other holding an ornate dagger high above his head. Aang felt betrayed for only a moment before he realized something was wrong.

Zuko’s eyes were black, no fire in them at all. His little flame he usually had above his head was gone too. He looked awful. He had gashes all over his shell and his fur was all dirty. He looked like he’d lost weight, but the biggest clue something was wrong was the strange stone disk on his forehead. It blazed with a light that felt twisted and wrong.

As he watched, frozen in terror, Zuko’s eyes seemed to regain a bit of fire. The arm holding the knife began to shake and tremble. Zuko was fighting whatever was happening to him.

Aang yelled out encouragement for him to not give up, and to let the moon spirit go.

Zhao was screaming orders for Zuko to kill the spirit. The disk on his forehead blazed brighter and Zuko brought the knife down.

* * *

Zuko was screaming in his mind. Zhao had ordered him to kill the moon spirit! He was fighting so hard, and it hurt so bad, but he couldn’t let Zhao kill the moon! Everyone needed the moon! As a sailor, Zhao should know that too!

His body snuck around behind the fighting and his body lunged for the pond. His arms fished the white spirit from the pond and he felt himself hold the knife high.

_ NO! _

Zuko threw everything he had, everything he was, at resisting this one, singular order. Zhao screamed at him to kill the spirit when he saw that Zuko was resisting. At that moment, Zuko made a decision.

_ Kill the spirit? _ He could do that.

Zuko brought the knife down.

The fish dropped into the pond where it rejoined its partner, safe and sound. The moon returned to its proper color.

_ Should have been more specific, Zhao. _

He thought as he fell to his knees and toppled over onto the grass, knife lodged firmly in his own chest. The disk on his head shattered into a million pieces.

He tried to suck air through his sides, but he could already feel himself fading. He’d broken the mind control and saved the moon spirit, at least. Everyone else would get to live, and that was enough for him.

The bond roared back to life and Zuko could feel Mother’s presence, almost like they were right next to him. Their face appeared hovering over his. Oh. He was glad he wouldn’t die alone, at least. 

_ I’m sorry, Mother. I love you. Thank you for everything. _

Fire and darkness consumed him and Zuko went gladly to sleep.

* * *

Ghost screeched and flung themselves over the edge of the ship when the moon turned red. They were going to be too late! They spread their wings and raced for the oasis.

Then, inexplicably, the moon returned to its white color. Wasn’t it supposed to disappear for a bit first?

Ghost felt the bond roar to life and rushed to embrace their son, their baby, in their mental presence. Something was wrong. He was fading! Why was he fading?! 

They dropped into the oasis like the fist of God. They saw Zhao and his soldiers off on one side of the oasis and hastily launched a modified Shade Soul at them, blasting them all back into the wall and gluing them there when the spell detonated into a sticky mass of Void instead of a violent explosion.

They whipped their head around and spotted their baby lying on the ground by the spirit pond, with a knife sticking out of their chest. They raced to his side and dropped to their knees beside him, hands already lit with healing magic.

They tried everything, but even though the wound healed, he was still fading! Why was he fading?! He’s healed, he’s supposed to be fine!

Their baby’s quiet mental voice reached out to them. They were apologizing!  _ Why were they apologizing?!  _

Ghost felt their baby fade away in their arms. His body went limp and the fire in his eyes was gone. There was nothing on the other end of the bond. He was gone.

* * *

Aang and the others watched as Zuko brought the knife down, not onto the moon spirit, but his own chest. Aang gasped in horror as Zuko toppled over onto the grass, the disk shattered. Black blood gushed from around the knife, burning the grass. 

Zhao screamed out denials and anger at the sudden turn of events.

Suddenly, another spirit, very similar in appearance to Zuko smashed into the ground with enough force to crater it. They blasted a ball of darkness that exploded into goo and stuck Zhao and his men to the wall before rushing over to Zuko’s side.

They ripped out the knife and glowed white. Zuko’s wound closed and the various cuts and scrapes all over him healed as well! He was going to be okay!

But, the other spirit only grew more frantic. The small amount of light that had been in Zuko’s eyes faded away and his body went limp.  _ Oh, no. _

The spirit seemed to become as still as stone. They gently placed Zuko’s body on the grass before they stood and turned around looking right at Zhao. Oh, this wasn’t going to be good, was it?

* * *

Ghost’s mind was absolutely blank for a moment. They thought of nothing in that moment.

They placed their baby down with infinite care. They stood up and turned around slowly, and faced their baby’s murderer. Zhao was stuck to the wall and struggling to get free.

They released their hold on their emotions as well as their physical body. Their mask cracked and shattered, discarded. The God of Gods opened their eight eyes, no bigger than they were in their physical body. They still needed to fit in the oasis, after all.

A couple people passed out upon feeling the sheer amount of rage they were exuding. Just about everyone else was brought to their knees.

They floated serenely over the rapidly dying grass of the oasis, gently pushing others out of the way with their tendrils sprouting off their wispy tail. They stood before Zhao, who seemed shocked at their existence.

They brought one tendril up and looked at it considering, before turning back to Zhao. Their arm darted out and slammed into Zhao’s neck before gripping it in a choking hold.

######TRIGGER WARNING (VIOLENT SHIT AHEAD)######

* * *

They ripped him off the wall and swung him around so the others could see him. They held him by his neck, his feet dangling and kicking off the air. His arms came up to try and support his weight or free himself, but the Shade Lord’s grip was like steel.

They had never tried this before, but they had suspected it was possible, and Zhao was certainly an acceptable target. 

They took their tendrils of Void and split one apart before, they forced them down Zhao’s throat and eyes. Blood poured from his eyes and nose as he screamed, but the sound was soon muffled by the Void tendril in his throat.

The tendrils were not truly physical in their totality though. They weren’t ripping Zhao apart from the inside out just in the traditional sense, though they were doing that too. 

They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and Ghost wanted to see if that was true. They looked deeply into Zhao with their more esoteric senses, searching for something. 

The core of who Zhao was, the essence of his very being. All his thoughts, all his hopes and dreams.

There, deep in the chest, they found it, anchored quite securely to Zhao’s physical form.

Not for long.

They wrapped Void tendrils around it and brutally yanked it free of its moorings. They reeled in the tendrils and they soon exited Zhao’s mouth with their prize.

It was interesting to look at. A crystalline shape of red light that constantly shifted and twisted into itself. It was expanding and contracting into fractals of itself and was folding in some truly mind bending ways. It seemed to exist slightly outside of this dimension, not fully affected by time.

It was a soul, Zhao’s soul to be more precise. They’d never seen one before, and it was surprisingly pretty for such an abhorrent, loathsome excuse of a man.

It was making noise, too. It sounded like it was screaming.

The dropped Zhao’s now lifeless body to the floor. It was no longer important. Blood and various viscera poured from his open mouth, insides completely shredded. His eyes were destroyed and saw nothing.  


They turned his soul this way and that, rolling it between their claws, considering. The Void utterly destroyed anything it consumed. It was nothingness and oblivion in its truest form.

They could think of no better end for a man who wanted to be remembered forever. Zhao would be erased from existence, never to reach the afterlife, never to reincarnate, nothing. Just annihilation.

Their form had no true mouth at the moment. They were not meant to speak or truly make noise. The Void was supposed to be silent, always.

But Ghost was the Shade Lord, God of Gods, and they did whatever they damn well pleased. Nothing told them what to do, not even the laws of reality. If they wanted a mouth and a voice, then they'd make one!

They formed a mouth on their currently mostly-fluid body and filled it with the most nightmarish fangs they could think of. Instead of just two rows, there were many, and they were everywhere on the inside of their mouth, a bit like a Wyrm’s.

They tilted their head back before raising the struggling form of Zhao’s soul above their open maw. 

It screamed and thrashed even more.

The God of Gods, Ghost, a grieving mother, let go of it.

It tumbled into their mouth and they clicked their jaw shut and swallowed. What little audible screaming was abruptly cut off as their body dragged the soul into the Void Sea that always resided in them to be consumed and erased.

Ghost licked their chops with their newly formed tongue.

Hmmm, it tasted like a well-seasoned steak. Delicious.

* * *

Aang watched as the spirit’s face seemed to crack and shatter before a mass of darkness erupted from it. It formed into the shape of the creature that had attacked Appa all those months ago, except it wasn’t any bigger than it had been before.

Suddenly Aang was slapped in the face by the force of its rage and hatred. His knees went weak and he dropped onto the grass, which was rapidly dying.

It slowly floated over to Zhao after nudging a few people out of the way, very gently.

It seemed to look at Zhao for a short moment before it suddenly grabbed him by the neck!

It tore him away from the wall and held him up by the neck in front of everyone, as if they wanted everyone to watch.

Aang felt his stomach rebel as he watched the spirit force its tendrils down Zhao’s throat and into the man’s eyes as he screamed and screamed.

The spirit looked almost bored with the proceedings before it ripped something red and glowing out of Zhao.

It dropped the man’s lifeless body to the floor where it gushed blood from the mouth and eyes, but Aang’s attention was on the red glowing thing.

It looked otherworldly, twisting and shifting and folding in weird ways that hurt his eyes to look at.

That’s when Aang realized the thing was screaming. It sounded like it was muffled or underwater, but it was definitely Zhao’s voice.

Just what on earth was that thing? His spiritual senses were going nuts, telling him that he shouldn’t be seeing whatever it was that he was seeing.

The spirit looked thoughtful at it as it rolled it between its claws.

Then it just dropped the thing into its mouth and ate it. It licked its lips, looking satisfied.

Aang then realized that he had just seen the spirit creature devour a man’s soul.

He couldn’t help it.

He leaned over and threw up onto the dead grass.

* * *

######TRIGGER WARNING OVER######  


Ghost heard the noises of battle outside the deadly quiet oasis. Right. There was an invasion going on. Their thoughts went to their son and they shoved the grief down once more. _~~(don’tthinkaboutit)~~_

They left the oasis behind. They flew out above the open water in front of the Northern Water tribe. It was full of Fire Nation warships. They plunged down into the water and fully released their hold on their form. 

For perhaps the first time, they felt the need to be bigger than their normal Shade Lord form already was. They called on the Void Sea, and it answered. They grew rapidly out of the water, quickly passing their usual size. 

When they opened their eyes, they were just over four hundred feet tall. The ships all looked like bath toys. Their enormous form cast a shadow over all the ships, blocking out the moonlight.

They looked at the tiny people in their tiny boats and wondered how they would pick out the innocent from the guilty.

They reached deep within themselves once more and connected to all the shades of their siblings.

_ My siblings, your Lord has a job for you all. Will you aid me? _

They were met with nothing but agreement.

_ Come to me. _

From their form, thousands of shades exited. Their eyes glowed in the dark night sky, looking like a brand new collection of stars.

_ Look into the hearts of the men and women in red and black uniforms. Those who are innocent are those who do not agree with this invasion, with Zhao. They are free of wrongdoing. They follow their orders because they are loyal to their country, perhaps they were forced to come. It matters not. Bring the innocent to me. I will spare them. _

_ Leave the guilty. Those with joy in their hearts over killing and destruction will be destroyed themselves. _

_ Most are on the boats still, but quite a few are located in the city behind me.  _

Ghost opened their mouth and spoke the tongue of men in a voice all their own. Not the voice of the Void united, not a mental message, but truly spoke in a voice that was theirs alone.

**_The innocent will be spared. The guilty will not. Beg your gods for mercy, because I will have none._ **

_ Go, my siblings. _

* * *

The shades all shouted with excitement over getting to help biggest sibling with something so important!

The siblings all descended on the boats, with a small group breaking off to search the city.

The power of the Shade Lord filled them all and allowed them to see into the hearts and minds of men. Those who thought of their families or were disgusted at the unprovoked act of war were scooped up by the shades.

They were wrapped in tendrils and lifted off their feet by the empowered shades. No amount of screaming or pleading or firebending affected them. 

Many people were brought to biggest sibling, who gently absorbed them into their pocket-space, where they would be safe. Time didn’t flow there, everything was in stasis. The people would wake back up once they left with no knowledge of time lost.

* * *

It took nearly half an hour for the shades to retrieve all the innocents. There were a fair number of them, and once the soldiers had figured out that the shades were kidnapping certain people, most tried to hide, but the shades could still sense them.

The soldiers saw their comrades get dragged off by the shadow beasts before they were absorbed into the form of the giant one that blotted out the moonlight. The shades were not hindered by walls or fire, and nor was their struggling cargo.

* * *

When the Shade Lord had gathered all the innocents into their pocket-space, they sent their sibling back to the Abyss. They didn’t need to see all the violence about to be committed tonight.

They sent their tendrils below all the ships, save a few. Their tendrils erupted from the sea before wrapping around each ship like the tentacles of a kraken. They crushed all the ships like tin cans before dragging them all underwater, dooming whoever was left on board.

For a few ships, they took a more delicate approach. They sent their tendrils to seek out anyone left on board and drag them into the sea to drown. They needed some ships so that the innocent soldiers could be sent home safely.

When the Fire Nation Navy was suitably decimated, they turned their attention to the city. They had to make sure they didn’t kill any innocent Water Tribesman. They shrunk their form slightly so they could fit into the canals and began hunting down every last willing invader. 

When they came upon groups of men fighting each other, the Water Tribesman all prostrated themselves in reverence and fear, while the Fire Nation soldiers all took offensive stances.

They killed the invaders and moved on. When their work was done, they went back to the empty ships before retrieving the men and women from their pocket-space and placing them on the ships. 

They were pleased to have accurately judged the amount of ships necessary for the amount of innocents. 

* * *

The various men and women looked up at the massive spirit in fear and confusion, for they thought they were dead when they had been taken by the smaller shadow creatures to be absorbed by the bigger one, but here they all were, safe and sound on the ships.

Then, they looked out at the ocean and saw the carnage. Bodies floated in the water along with massive amounts of metal debris. They looked up at the huge creature in fear. Had it been saving them for last?

**_You have been deemed innocent. Go back to your families and hold them close. You will not be granted such mercy a second time. I suggest you all seek employment elsewhere._ **

The creature’s voice was indescribable. It slipped beneath the waves and disappeared. They all scrambled to obey and get the hell out of there as fast as possible.

* * *

Ghost raced back to the oasis and shrunk down to the same size they had been before. They could sense the  _ Wani _ hovering above the ice shelf off to the side. They saw a small gathering of people in the oasis, near the entrance.

Ghost descended next to the pond. Their son’s body was still laying there. His body had gone cold, but not yet stiff. They set their ethereal lower half on the grass and gathered him into their arms.

They used their new vocal abilities to wail with grief as they cried and rocked him. They stroked his horns and combed his fluff, hoping that this was all a bad dream and that they’d wake up soon.

They barely noticed the crew of the  _ Wani _ and Iroh entering the oasis as well. Iroh took one look at what was happening and rushed over to kneel by Ghost, ripping off his mask. 

“ _ No! _ Ghost, tell me he’s not, tell me my Nephew’s not…!”

Ghost simply let out another wail, shaking their head and curling over their son’s body more.

Iroh let out a wail of grief as well and joined Ghost in mourning the boy he’d loved like a son.

* * *

When the creature had flown off, Aang breathed a sigh of relief. He stared sadly at Zuko’s body and tried not to cry. Something awful had happened to him, but nobody knew what. Zhao had done something to him and Zuko had managed to fight it off just long enough to not kill the moon spirit, but himself instead. Aang looked away, tears in his eyes.

So much death today. Too much.

Chief Arnook stood off to the side embracing his shaken daughter. Some Water Tribe warriors had come and taken the other firebenders prisoner, but they were having trouble getting the men unstuck from the wall.

They then got to witness the spirit growing big enough to blot out the moon. Everyone froze in utter terror at the sight. Were they all about to be killed?

The spirit then spoke with a voice Aang couldn’t even begin to describe. It wasn’t male or female, and he couldn’t tell if it sounded like multiple voices at once or not. It seemed to have some kind of musical undertone. It was beautiful and haunting and it announced that the innocent would be spared.

Then, many smaller shapes had emerged from it and begun snatching people off the boats and streets!

One even came for the men stuck to the wall. Aang realized that it was one of the sibling spirits from the temple! How was it here? 

Everyone backed away in fear from it but the sibling didn’t even seem to notice. It looked at the men one at a time, very intensely staring at them. When it got to the last, youngest man, it announced in a childlike voice, “You are innocent.”

It wrapped its tendrils around the man and easily plucked him from the wall. The man began screaming and reaching out for someone to save him, but everyone else was scared and confused.

If the man was innocent, why was he being taken away?

They got their answer a few minutes later, when a massive tendril of darkness darted through the door to the spirit oasis and dragged the other five men away, screaming. Aang chased after the retreating tentacle, but it was too fast and it drug the men into one of the canals of the city where they disappeared without a trace.

Aang stood there for a moment before mechanically walking back to the oasis where everyone else was.

Then everyone heard the spirit’s second announcement where it told the innocent people to go home to their families.

_ I guess they just got kidnapped back to the ships. _ Aang thought.

Everyone was a bit startled when the spirit came back, much smaller like it had been when it...ate Zhao...and proceeded to grieve over Zuko’s body in the most heart-wrenching sight Aang had ever seen.

This had to be the mysterious ‘Mother’ Zuko always talked about. Nobody except a mother could grieve like that. It wailed and rocked Zuko’s body, weeping large dark tears from all eight eyes. 

Nobody knew what to do, but they were all a bit scared to move and potentially attract its attention. 

Then, a bunch of people in white masks similar to Zuko’s and the other spirit’s broken one came rushing through the entrance. Everyone leapt out of their way as the heavyset man in a dragon mask ran to the pair and ripped off the mask.

The Water Tribesman all swore. That was the Dragon of the West!

They all got to witness him break down as well. The others all took off their masks as well, revealing completely normal faces, and they stood behind the grieving pair, offering silent support and crying quietly. They had all clearly cared for Zuko.

Then Zuko’s body burst into flames.

* * *

Ghost and Iroh sat together in grief, with the crew supporting them from behind.

Everyone except Ghost flinched back when Zuko’s body suddenly burst into bright red flames. Iroh shouted and tried to firebend the flames away, but was unable to take control of the blaze.

Faster than it should have been possible, Zuko’s body burnt to ashes in Ghost’s hands.

Ghost cried out in shock and further despair, trying to grab onto the insubstantial flakes as they floated away.

They suddenly stopped when they felt a new weight in their lap, and the bond that had been completely empty and silent held the sounds of a softly beating heart. It felt just like Zuko.

They looked down and beheld the impossible miracle sitting in their lap.

It was a small, perfectly round egg, about the size of a cantaloupe. It was black and red, and it glowed with an inner fire. A familiar fire. 

Ghost could only murmur a quiet, incredulous response, their heart soaring with hope.

**_“Long Live The Nightmare King.”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehehehe, aren't i evil, making you all think he was really dead for a minute there >:) how'd you like the ending zhao got?? you know that whole 'heir to eternity' i was going on about earlier?? yeah, thats coming into play. also flying wani, because im a sucker for airships and that whole steampunk airship pirate trope. the wani being able to fly was actually planned from the beginning, i just found a good way to work it into the story now.


	33. Viva la Revolution!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sexism is so stupid guys, seriously. don't be a sexist ass. nobody likes a sexist ass. ghost is slowly teaching the NWT to not be sexist asses. (they practicing their revolution starting skills, lol). a bit more plot, but also some fluff at the end.

What happened next could only be described as chaos. Ghost’s instincts had reared their overprotective head, and they’d carefully snatched the egg and retreated into a shadowy corner to curl their now snake-like form around the egg, hissing at anyone who came near.

Iroh tried to get them to calm down and the Water Tribe generally had no idea what to do. The whole crew minus the twins were all just kind of milling around. Eventually Aza had put her mask back on and shoved Iroh out of the way to make soothing noises at Ghost and expressing completely calm and non-threatening body language.

It eventually worked and Aza got Ghost to calm down a bit, but that still left them in an awkward position. Iroh asked for clarification on the whole ‘his-nephew-may-or-may-not-be-an-egg-now’ scenario.

Ghost didn’t quite know what had happened either, but suspected it had something to do with Zuko’s connection to the Nightmare Heart. The nature of fire was cyclical in a sense. A fire burns away old growth to fuel the new, the ashes of the past feeding the future.

Perhaps Zuko’s connection allowed him to be reborn in a sense, when his previous body had become too damaged or worn out, like a phoenix.

It was the only explanation any of them could come up with, so they just went with it. That just left them in a situation of Ghost being in their Shade Lord form, which was uncomfortable to compress this much without a shell for long, and Zuko now being an egg.

Ghost assured them all he was still there, but his consciousness felt like it was sleeping. They had no idea how long it would take for Zuko to hatch, and Ghost wasn’t letting anyone get anywhere near the egg.

* * *

Iroh had been decided as the one to approach the Water Tribesman with a request for shelter. Zuko had saved the moon spirit at the cost of his life, and then Ghost had completely solved the whole ‘invasion’ problem.

There was a contingent of warriors guarding the pond as well as the entrance. The warriors all tensed when the infamous Dragon of the West approached them slowly, his hands tucked into the pockets of his pants in a way that would make firebending without burning his pants off first very difficult.

“May I speak to your Chief? I have important things to discuss with him regarding the spirits and our current situation.” Iroh said very calmly.

The warriors all looked at each other, before the largest one made some kind of hand motion and the youngest member ran off, presumably to fetch the Chief.

Iroh nodded in thanks and retreated a small ways. He frowned as he spotted the remnants of Ghost’s mask. He walked over and retrieved the two pieces of the shattered mask.

* * *

Iroh brought them over to Ghost, who took them in their two upper arms, the lower ones delicately cradling the egg to their chest. Ghost stared at the halves sadly. 

They could feel the Void magic clinging to the pieces, but with no way to repair it, they’d have to undergo metamorphosis again, which wasn’t even an option as far as they were concerned. That would take far too long and leave Dear Heart’s egg undefended by them.

They couldn’t use their powers on it either. Nothing that held their own Void magic in such a way could be affected by the passage of time, or any related powers or spells, even from them.

They needed to guard Dear Heart’s egg at all times. Their instincts demanded it. The last time they’d let him go off on his own, this whole situation happened! Never again. They’d stick to his side like glue now, he’d get sick of them in no time.

Ghost could live with Dear Heart hating them, as long as it meant he was safe and alive.

* * *

Chief Arnook was in a meeting with the Avatar and his friends, as well as all the tribe’s elders, trying to figure out what in the hell had just happened.

This whole situation was completely unprecedented. First the Fire Nation suddenly decided they wanted to invade, then the moon spirit almost got killed, but then saved by some kind of spirit beast that had been under the control of the man leading the invasion, right before a massive spirit just stopped the invasion cold. 

The beast, called ‘Zuko’ according to the children, had killed itself rather than follow through on its orders to kill the moon spirit. That act was worthy of a large amount of respect in Arnook’s book. Zuko had apparently been under some kind of spell or forced control, and had fought with everything he had, until the end.

Then, Zuko’s mother, another spirit, had appeared and gone mad with rage and grief over the death of its child, which was also completely understandable in Arnook’s book. If anything happened to Yue, he’d go mad with grief, too.

The spirit was apparently a massively old and powerful spirit of darkness, and it had exacted vengeance on Zhao, the man responsible for the invasion and their child’s death, by brutally murdering him and apparently consuming the man’s soul, if the Avatar was to be believed. Arnook wasn’t quite sure what the red glowing thing it had pulled from Zhao was, but it sounded plausible.

The thought of a spirit eating souls was a terrifying one, but after it had done that, it had completely driven off the Fire Nation by growing to massive proportions and it had spared ‘the innocent’.

Arnook didn’t really believe that any of the invaders were innocent, but they were all gone and no longer attacking his people, and he wasn’t about to argue with the giant spirit responsible for his people’s salvation, anyway.

It hadn’t taken a single aggressive action against any of his people, and Arnook had been raised to respect the spirits, and this one had just lost a child and had saved his people. He owed it a great debt. The whole tribe did.

Then, one of the younger warriors burst in on the meeting with the Avatar and all the elders to announce that the Dragon of the West wanted to talk to him.

Arnook rose and the children all started to follow him. He let them. Apparently, they had a bit of a history with Zuko, and could probably help negotiations.

* * *

Ghost looked up when the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe entered the oasis. Arnook, Ghost recalled. They remembered the oddest trivia from the show, sometimes.

They hauled themselves into the air and slowly approached the Chief who only tensed a bit at their approach.

**_“Chief Arnook, the crew of the Wani and I politely request shelter and lodgings for the next several weeks, or until my son emerges.”_ **

* * *

How the spirit knew his name, he didn’t know, but that was a simple enough request. Arnook thought of the seldom-used guest houses by the Great Hall. The Avatar and his friends were staying in one, but there were a few more available. They were mostly used by traveling merchants or the odd lost sailor.

Arnook wasn’t sure what the spirit meant at the last part, but spotted the spirit holding what looked to be an egg. He was confused, but he could still be polite.

“What may I call you, Honorable Spirit? Your request shall be granted. The entirety of the tribe owes you a great debt. Your son protected the moon spirit at the cost of his own life and you yourself drove off the invaders. As long as it is within our power, we shall grant your requests for the foreseeable future.”

**_“You may call me Ghost, and in that case, I have another request. My mask, an object that allows me to more comfortably stay in a smaller shape, was damaged quite badly when I returned to my true form to stop the invasion. I have reason to believe the properties of the oasis may help repair it. May I negotiate its repair with the moon and ocean spirits? No harm shall come to them, you have my word.”_ **

Arnook was a bit wary about letting anyone near the oasis, but Ghost had given their word, and they also had no reason to hurt the moon and ocean spirits anyway.

“Very well.” Arnook motioned for the warriors guarding the pond to let the spirit pass. 

They did so, and the large shadowy spirit dipped the tips of its claws into the water. The bodies of the moon and ocean spirits noticed immediately and nibbled and swam happily around them.

Arnook had never seen them behave in such a way, but he figured they were grateful for all the help in saving Tui and protecting the tribe.

Ghost placed the halves of their mask into the shallow water and nudged the halves as close together as they could. The koi swirled around it and the pond glowed with a blue light. When the glow died down, Ghost pulled the mask free of the water, now in one piece.

Ghost made some kind of delighted noise and thanked the moon and ocean spirits, who resumed their slow circling like nothing had happened. Ghost very, very carefully transferred the egg into the equally careful and steady hands of the Dragon of the West.

The spirit then placed the mask face up on the ground, before they seemingly dissolved and dove into the eye holes. There was an incredible rushing noise and the entirety of the spirit’s body disappeared into the mask.

The mask lay still for a moment before it rattled around on the ground and darkness flowed out of it before coalescing into a humanoid shape. 

With four arms and digitigrade legs, the spirit was exactly the same as they were when they had first dropped out of the sky all those hours ago. 

They flexed every limb and spread previously unseen wings before it buzzed them and carefully tucked them away again.

It took back the egg from a reluctant Dragon of the West and nodded its thanks. 

**_“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could we see about lodgings? The crew and I are all exhausted from today.”_ **

“Of course. This way please,” Arnook went to guide the group to the guest igloos behind the Great Hall, but the Avatar’s group stopped them.

“Hey, hey, wait a minute! How’d you all even get here?! All the Fire Nation warships are gone! Were you part of the invasion?!” Sokka accused.

Arnook wanted to slap the boy, just a bit. Honestly, did he not see the giant four-hundred foot eldritch monster Ghost could become, apparently at the drop of a hat?! Why was he provoking them? Did he have a death wish? 

“Uh, actually, we flew here,” Came the shy voice of one of the crew mates in a prong-horned mask, standing off to the side and shuffling his feet awkwardly. 

“Right, on what giant flying bison did you ride in here on?” Sokka asked sarcastically.

“Uh, actually, we flew here on the  _ Wani _ . You know, our boat? We’ve given it a few upgrades since you last saw it. The twins and Ghost worked really hard to get us here in time to help,” the crew mate explained.

“Right, so you flew here, on a boat? Pull the other one! How’d you really get here?!”

* * *

Ghost was tired and cranky and the sun was rising and the sunlight irritated their newly formed shell. It’s not like they were intending to keep it a secret. They shouted out the passcode to get the twins, who had stayed behind with the ship, to drop the cloaking spell.

**_“Olly Olly Oxen Free!”_ ** Ghost shouted out abruptly. 

There was a sound like crackling static, and the form of the  _ Wani  _ appeared, floating serenely above the nearby ice shelf that bordered the oasis.

Swears and shouts of surprise rang out from everyone but the crew and Iroh. Everyone gaped up at the impossible flying boat, bedecked in sinister red crystals that pulsed with power.

**_“There. Now that we have proven that we are not liars, may we please all go to sleep now? My shell is new and the sunlight burns, and my son is an egg now, and you’re starting to annoy me!”_ ** Ghost said irritably.

Sokka took a small step back and chuckled nervously, “Uh, go right ahead!” 

* * *

Arnook nodded tightly and led the small group towards the guest rooms, glaring at the foolish boy as he passed. On his way out, Arnook could hear the sounds of the boy being smacked upside the head and scolded by his sister. If Arnook smirked at the sound slightly, well, no one said anything.

* * *

Ghost and Iroh were led to a modestly sized igloo in the back corner of the city. It was pretty secluded from the rest of the bustling city due to its placement behind the Great Hall. Ghost appreciated the quiet. The others had been led to a slightly larger igloo where the rest of them decided to stay the night.

The twins refused to leave the ship, stating that someone needed to stay behind to make sure it was safe, and neither twin went anywhere without the other.

Ghost was exhausted, but they still had work to do. Iroh was the only one to share an igloo with them, so they left one bed alone, but stripped the other one bare. They gathered up all of the blankets and furs and piled them all in the darkest part of the igloo. 

The walls were covered with fabric and furs, so it was pretty well insulated. A small fire crackled in the fire pit. They fussed with the placement of the furs until the shape was just right, and then began ripping out their fluff to line the nest, much to the concern of Iroh.

They’d had to stop for a second and explain that they were fine. They used a bit of their dwindling Soul reserves to regrow their ruff several times. They lined this nest much more thoroughly than they usually did, due to their son’s new fragile state.

They carefully curled up and placed the egg right next to their vents, where they blew out soft puffs of warm, moist air. Eggs needed to be kept warm and slightly moist, but also in a place with decent air circulation. 

Most of the bugs in Hallownest brooded in a similar way. They usually built a nest of some sort and kept the eggs next to their vents because it was the easiest way to fulfill all the egg’s needs at once.

Of course, most couples took turns and had many more eggs at a time, even if not all of them hatched.

Ghost had no one else to help them, and they ached for Grimm’s presence for the first time in a long while. He’d been such an attentive partner. Ghost had refused to leave the nest after they had laid Grimmchild’s egg, but Grimm brought them everything they needed. Soul, entertainment, and excellent company.

He’d entertained them for hours with stories of distant lands and all the interesting kingdoms he’d visited and bugs he’d met. His raspy voice often sang them to sleep each night as he held them.

Ghost swallowed hard and tried not to cry. They failed, but at least Iroh was too busy sleeping to notice. They whispered sweet nothings to Dear Heart’s egg and poured love through the bond as they fell asleep.

They dreamed of strong hands and loving eyes that danced with them under a beating heart.

* * *

They awoke the next morning, still curled around Dear Heart’s egg. Iroh was already up, brewing tea like always.

Ghost snuffled a bit before they sat up, opening their mouth to yawn. Iroh only glanced at them before going back to his teapot.

It had been hilarious when they had yawned in front of the crew the first time, and subsequently scared the crap out of everyone except Dear Heart with what he had dubbed their ‘freaky mouth tentacles’.

When they yawned, the tendrils inside of their mouth had a tendency to curl out of their mouth a bit, and the sight was quite shocking to those who didn’t already know about them.

Instead of teeth and a tongue, Ghost had their razor-sharp Void tendrils to rip up their food for them, so when they bared their ‘teeth’ at someone, it was more like looking into an open beak filled with writhing darkness.

Ghost got up and stretched a bit, pleased with how their Void had settled down and strengthened their shell. The sunlight wouldn’t burn anymore, it would just be slightly irritating as it always was.

Iroh offered them a strange, salty tea that he claimed was popular with the Water Tribes. It was rather good, Ghost thought, and they sipped another cup, sucking up the liquid through their tendrils like a straw, or more accurately, a proboscis.

They got to work weaving together a sling for Dear Heart’s egg, so Ghost could take it with them everywhere. They weren’t leaving him alone, not for a second. He was too vulnerable like this.

While Ghost trusted Iroh to do everything in his power to keep Dear Heart safe, he was still only human, and a rather elderly one at that. Ghost was probably the most powerful thing on the planet right now, and even they failed at keeping Dear Heart safe.

Never again.

Ghost continued to weave the sling while they tried to give Iroh a crash course on grub care.

“What makes you so certain he’ll come out a grub and not a human baby?” Iroh asked.

**_“Do human babies usually come from eggs?”_ ** Ghost asked in a deadpan voice.

Iroh looked a bit sheepish, “Ah, I suppose not, but I’d just hoped…”

Ghost gave Iroh a soft look. Iroh looked away.

**_“No matter what shape he takes, he is still your nephew, and you are still his uncle. He didn’t care for you any less when I came into his life.”_ **

“I know that! I’ll always support him in whatever he chooses to do with his life, but I’m just wondering about the future...I’m far too old to think of becoming Fire Lord whenever this war finally ends. Zuko will have to step up and claim the throne. The only other option is Azula, and I think you already know why that’s a terrible idea.”

**_“A throne would suit her ill indeed, but she’d make an excellent military advisor, I think.”_ **

Iroh looked surprised, but then considering, “Yes...that just might work out if we can get her away from my brother’s influence in time.”

Ghost merely nodded before they made the finishing touches to the sling. They strapped it around themselves before filling the small pocket with fluff and carefully lowering the egg in.

“How long do you think it will take for him to, er...hatch?” Iroh awkwardly asked. The fact that his nephew was an egg now was just a weird situation all around.

**_“I’m not too sure. It might only be the typical two weeks to two months for an egg to hatch, it varies from species to species, or it might take the more human timespan of nine to ten months. It is difficult to tell.”_ **

Iroh let out a breath at that, “Please let it be only two weeks…”

Ghost snorted a laugh, before someone rang the little bell attached to a hook by the animal skin door of the igloo.

Iroh got up from his seat and answered the door. It was the crew, come to collect them for the morning meal in the Great Hall. There was a victory celebration going on, and Ghost was apparently invited as the guest of honor, seeing as how they’d single-handedly stopped the invasion and saved the tribe from further losses.

Ghost graciously accepted the offer. While they could sustain themselves off of Void and Soul, doing so when they had a perfectly functional digestive system was unpleasant, as it didn’t stop them from feeling hungry.

* * *

When they stepped out of the igloo, the crew, minus the twins, who were still refusing to leave the ship, got an eyeful of Ghost’s new sling and its precious cargo.

Lin squealed in delight over how cute the whole thing looked and even Aza had that soft look on her face she usually only had around her animals. Li and Jee just shuffled awkwardly. 

They didn’t know how to deal with kids or overly excited women gushing about kids.

The group all headed off to the feasting hall, and conversation died down and every head turned to them when they walked in. 

Arnook made an announcement welcoming them and thanking Ghost over saving them from the Fire Nation, and invited the whole group to sit up at the head table with him.

They all graciously accepted the offer for the honor it was, and the crew all sat down and began to sample some authentic Water Tribe cuisine. Ghost cooking for them for months had greatly expanded their palettes, and they were all much more open to trying new foods.

A few of the elders looked a bit surprised over how accepting and enthusiastic the Fire Nation crew seemed about the food. Most of them expected at least a little hesitance or disgust, at least!

Yue happened to be seated across from Ghost and they couldn’t help but ask about the egg.

Ghost briefly explained the situation to her, and she seemed shocked but relieved that Zuko hadn’t actually died, but instead undergone a strange rebirth. She began asking questions about what spirit children were like.

That inadvertently set Lin off, and she was soon pelting Ghost with questions about how child care had worked in Hallownest, and suddenly Ghost was giving an impromptu lecture about it. 

Ghost didn’t notice how the conversations around them got quieter as several parties listened in on the fascinating info being shared. Humans knew so little about the spirits, much less an entire civilization of ones that looked like bugs, even if it was gone now!

Some things were similar, like teething apparently, and other things were decidedly not, like molting and nymph stages.

While humans went through puberty, that was about the biggest change they experienced.

The bugs of Hallownest had a much more diverse and colorful collection of life stages and cycles. Some species completely changed forms, like the butterflies and moth tribes, and others stayed generally the same, like certain beetle species.

Ghost went on to describe what raising Agni had been like. Apparently, he’d started life as a limbless snakelike creature with wings, and then had molted a few times and gained legs and a second pair of arms developed after his first set had separated from his wings. 

They had acquired this knowledge from Agni Himself after they had become separated and He grew up with Ghost’s siblings, who were now long since dead.

Ghost theorized that Zuko would have a similar life cycle, what with him inheriting Agni’s old domain of Nightmares and being his descendant.

Several heads were exploding in the background as the more spiritually knowledgeable among them realized what that meant. The massive spirit monster that had saved them all from subjugation from the Fire Nation was actually the mother of the patron spirit of firebending.

They were also very confused, because that family tree didn’t make sense unless...ew.

Their disgust and confusion abated after Ghost had explained that Zuko had been adopted, and Ghost wasn’t actually their mother biologically, but instead his many-times-great grandmother, though Zuko had apparently undergone a spiritual adoption ritual, and that was the reason for his new appearance.

Ghost thankfully hadn’t noticed the minor expressions of disgust before they had inadvertently cleared up the misunderstanding. 

They enjoyed talking with Yue and the crew about their other family members, though they tried to keep the conversions lighthearted, for their tragic family history wasn’t exactly something to be shared over breakfast with the entire tribe. 

They didn’t even notice the Gaang or the elders having minor breakdowns at the far end of the table once they realized that that meant the entire Fire Nation Royal Family was descended from literal gods, and a whole bunch of them at that!

Eventually, the Avatar worked up the courage to ask Ghost about Agni’s stance on the war. The whole feasting hall grew quiet at that, looking to Ghost for the answer.

Ghost explained that Agni had been so busy taking care of the sun, that He actually hadn’t even noticed what had been happening in the mortal realm, but was disgusted once He did find out.

Agni was decidedly against the war and disappointed and angry with the Fire Nation, but mostly their leadership. He’d apparently tasked Zuko with helping to end the war, but that would have to wait until he was actually grown up enough again to be of any help.

The mid-morning feast had concluded not too long after, and Ghost retreated back to the nest to care for the egg, oblivious to the shitstorm they’d unleashed.

* * *

People had started debating hotly about what to do with the information they’d just learned and what it meant for them exactly. Yue had tried communing with the moon spirit to learn more, but Tui was being surprisingly tight-lipped about everything.

Apparently, She was actually good friends with Agni, which Yue hadn’t actually realized before, but in hindsight was obvious. They shared the sky, after all! Tui had told Yue that it wasn’t Her story to tell, but She did confirm everything as true.

Agni hadn’t even known His mother was alive until very recently, but now He wouldn’t shut up about it! Ghost was impossibly ancient and had spent uncountable eons sleeping in their ancestral birthplace, which Tui only knew as a place called the Abyss from Agni’s stories.

Ghost and Agni were both much, much older than Tui, and Agni saw Her almost like the little sister He never had. They had apparently been around before the sun or moon, and definitely much longer than bending itself, or just humans in general, for that matter!

* * *

Yue awoke from her meditation and rushed to go tell her father everything. This was all so exciting! While she was sad that Hahn had died in the invasion, she was relieved that she wouldn’t have to marry him, and now life was really looking up for her! 

She was free to pursue a relationship with Sokka, and her father had finally approved! Sokka had protected her quite well during the whole oasis mess, and he was technically Prince of the Southern Water Tribe, even if they didn’t really have princes or a royal family down there, but details!

Her father had even agreed to let her learn combat waterbending! She was so excited to learn! Yue really looked up to Katara, who had fought for what she wanted and had gotten it! Yue was going to do the same from now on.

* * *

When Ghost had heard that Katara was going to be practicing waterbending the next day, they had gotten up to go watch the show. It was bound to be entertaining, if nothing else.

Ghost was surprised to find Yue at the lessons, and asked about it. Apparently her father had tentatively agreed to allow some women to start learning combat waterbending if they wanted to, and was nearly bowled over with requests from a vast majority of the female waterbending population.

Ghost had commented that it was strange to be in such a patriarchal society, which had prompted a long conversation with both Arnook, Yue, Paku, Katara, and a large crowd of female and male waterbenders about how Hallownest had been a primarily matriarchal one, although they had been ruled by a king.

Female insects were typically bigger and more aggressive than the males, and were more likely to be warriors than males. 

Deepnest, a fearsome and wild place, had been ruled by Herrah the Beast, the Spider Queen, who even the Pale King had feared. She was a living legend, for she was the only queen who’d refused to bend the knee for the Pale King and had battled him to a standstill, even though she wasn’t even a Higher Being, which were like the Hallownest equivalent of patron spirits or gods.

The Hive had been ruled by Hive Queen Vespa, a bee queen who was so enormous, she couldn’t even leave the hive near the end of her life. The bees were fearsome fighters and though they were not technically ruled by the Pale King, they did pay in tributes of honey and wax as a tax of sorts, for being allowed to rule themselves.

The Mantis Tribe had been ruled by a trio of sisters, known as the Sisters of Battle, and were renowned for their lightning fast attacks and unbeatable teamwork. Ghost recalled fighting them fondly.

That had then led into a long story detailing Ghost’s adventures through Hallownest to save the Kingdom from an awful plague. They’d fought many tough foes and had briefly described clawing their way to the top of a massive gladiatorial combat arena where they’d faced the goddess of light responsible for the Kingdom’s ruin and killed her in single combat.

They had then Ascended into a Higher Being themselves after uniting the fundamental force of oblivion and nothingness under their will.

The waterbending lesson had been completely derailed by their storytelling, but hardly anyone cared when they received such an epic tale in return.

Ghost had asked if any of the women knew how to wield weapons of any kind, and had been upset when they all responded in the negative.

* * *

**_“You’re saying that none of you, not a single one, knows how to fight, at all?!”_ **

“Hey!” Katara yelled.

**_“Except for Katara,”_ ** They amended.

The women all shook their heads, saying that women weren’t traditionally allowed to learn to fight, since it was the men’s job to protect them.

**_“Did I wait for a man to come and save me and Hallownest?! No, of course not, I did it my own damn self, and I could hardly hold a Nail right!” Ghost yelled, “Now, who wants to learn how to kick ass and take names?!”_ **

They were met with a roaring cheer from all the women. Arnook and Paku looked startled at the sudden fire Ghost was igniting in the women. 

Ghost gently handed off the egg to Iroh for safekeeping. He’d come along to see what all the noise was about, and had gotten roped into eggsitting duty off in the corner while Ghost taught all the women how to fight. 

They had reached into their fluff and retrieved two enormous long swords of strange descriptions. They were longer than the average man was tall, and were a pitch black that lit up with intricate designs when they wielded them. Ghost had called them their ‘Vorpal Nails’. 

They proceeded to perform what they called a ‘blade dance’ which was an incredibly graceful series of sword moves that looked like a cross between actual fighting and dancing, fittingly enough. 

They had then conjured all the women blades made out of energy that wouldn’t cut flesh, but would sting when it hit you, for training purposes. The swords would only last for a few hours, but for those few hours, the women learned the basics of sword fighting.

The women were all sweaty and exhausted and had blisters on their hands, but they’d never had so much fun or felt so free! They would be demanding more lessons later, along with waterbending ones, and they wouldn’t let anyone tell them no, especially not some sexist, pig-headed man! 

* * *

Ghost was bombarded with requests for more lessons from the women, and they gladly gave them. Honestly, sexism was so stupid, and Ghost hated it. They themselves didn’t even have a gender, but the idea of someone telling Ghost they couldn’t do something because of what gender, or lack thereof, they were, was preposterous.

Anyone who tried would be dealing with the business end of Ghost’s Nails.

They were glad for the opportunity to work with their blades again, it had been far too long in their opinion.

The women all took to the training with aplomb, and Ghost had to stifle roars of laughter when one especially stupid man had come up during the lessons and tried to persuade the women to ‘go back to the kitchen where they belonged’. 

The sheer amount of vitriol the man was faced with from the horde of armed women was nothing short of beautiful. 

Ghost had then informed the man that they worked as the  _ Wani’s _ cook and if they should also ‘go back to the kitchen’ in the sweetest, most dangerous voice they could muster, and then they threw one of their Longnails to fly through the air and decapitate a training dummy on the other side of the training yard Ghost had made.

The man had beat a hasty retreat after that and all the women had cheered.

Ghost was becoming a bit of a feminist icon in the tribe, despite not actually having a gender or sexual characteristics unless they wanted to, a fact that had to be explained several times, much to their annoyance. 

The Northern Water Tribe had such strictly divided gender roles that they didn’t really know where Ghost, a completely genderless being, who was a fantastic fighter and also technically a widow and a single mother, fit into their worldview. 

They were unsure how to treat them exactly, aside from most people being very polite, because most people weren’t idiots and kept their confusion and sexist opinions to themselves.

Regardless, Ghost was becoming very popular with the women of the tribe, who were sick and tired of being pushed around and told what to do by all the men.

Paku still refused to teach women besides Katara how to fight using waterbending, but that was fine, since she just turned around and attended the sword lessons too, and taught any female waterbenders what she had learned that day anyway. 

Eventually Sokka remembered the ass-kicking he’d gotten on Kyoshi island and asked for sword lessons too, and Ghost allowed it, so long as he didn’t make any sexist remarks.

Arnook actually seemed to support the entire thing, but acted like he didn’t when any of the men came to complain, but cleverly pushed off the blame onto Ghost for the social and cultural revolution that was happening, because by the laws of the tribe, until Ghost took hostile actions against the tribe, they were allowed to stay and people couldn’t say or do jack shit about it.

* * *

Eventually though, the Avatar and his friends decided it was time to move on, because Aang still needed to find an earthbending teacher. Ghost advised them to not take any shortcuts when it came to bending or the Avatar state.

Aang, who remembered the whole firebending debacle from weeks ago, wholeheartedly agreed, and the trio left the North Pole, with a tearful goodbye from Yue, who pulled Sokka into a kiss, much to the cheering of her classmates.

They parted ways after Sokka promised to write her whenever they were near enough to a post office or mail delivery service that made deliveries this far North.

* * *

Now it was just Ghost and the crew, along with Iroh. The crew all became friendly with some of the tribesmen and women, with the exception of the twins, who had become a pair of recluses on the _Wani_.

The others often brought them food from the feasting halls and tried to persuade them to make friends, but they insisted on staying with the ship. Everyone was mildly concerned about their behavior, but let it go for now.

The rest of the crew took to wearing their masks more, even Li, who it turns out had actually been hearing snippets of people’s surface thoughts. 

Ghost demanded to check all of their masks, and found, much to their surprise, that the crew’s Soul had bonded quite strongly with them and had given them each properties unique to each individual.

There had been a bit of an uproar when Lin let slip she could use magic like Ghost could to heal people, despite not actually being a bender of any kind. She was herded into the healing huts where Yugoda assessed her healing abilities, and found them to be on par with an experienced waterbending healer, better in some categories but worse in others, due to the different nature of the healing.

When she was asked how she could use magic, Lin cracked like an egg under the pressure and said that Ghost could grant magic powers essentially at will, because everyone already had magic in them, they just couldn’t touch it or access it normally.

That led to a whole giant meeting with Arnook and Yugoda and a bunch of the elders along with Ghost and the crew about how Soul worked, and if Ghost would be willing to bestow powers on willing participants.

They all asked very politely, making sure that Ghost knew they didn’t owe the tribe anything and was completely at liberty to refuse.

Ghost agreed easily though, because the process was simple and painless, much to everyone’s surprise.

The elders were losing their shit, combing through the ancient records to find any mention of spirits with similar powers, and stumbled upon a mention of mysterious blue creatures that produced a liquid that healed people.

Apparently the first waterbending healers had ritually partaken of the liquid frequently, and had gained healing abilities from it.

When it was revealed that the  _ Wani _ had a plentiful supply of such creatures, and that 

Ghost would be willing to share them with the tribe, a small sect of elders and some of the women had begun constructing a secret shrine to the new spirit that had helped the tribe so much.

First they’d saved the entire North Pole, then they brought back a piece of their ancient culture and history thought lost forever, and was willing to grant even more favors in the form of spirit blessings!

The shrine was hidden in the back of the oasis, through a short tunnel where they kept everything as dark as possible, due to noticing that Ghost disliked too much light of any kind, but found sunlight especially irritating in large quantities.

They filled the shrine with weapons and offerings of food and small children’s toys, and brought tribute in secret, because Ghost became uncomfortable when presented with too much reverence. They were such a kind and humble spirit!

* * *

A week after the Avatar’s group left, it finally happened. Ghost had been in the middle of a beginner’s magic lesson with the small group of women, including Yue, when they felt the bond stirring. Dear Heart was waking up! 

Their eyes and hands went to the egg in the sling they were wearing and felt it move a small bit. They gasped and the other women asked what was wrong.

**_“It’s happening! Sorry everyone, but class is cancelled for today!”_ **

They rushed off back to the igloo that they had called come the past two weeks. They spread their wings and took to the skies in order to move faster. They rarely flew in the North Pole, it was too cold and they risked their delicate wings freezing and becoming brittle.

People looked up in surprise when their shadow passed overhead, wondering why they were in such a rush. Ghost ignored them all. They burst into the tent, badly startling Iroh, who’d been enjoying a cup of tea and a friendly game of Pai Sho with Master Paku.

“It’s happening!” They shouted before whirling on Paku,  **_“Out! Out, out! You need to leave!”_ **

“Ghost, what’s going on?!” Iroh said, concerned.

**_“He’s hatching, it’s happening! You can stay, but Paku needs to leave, this is a private matter!”_ ** Their instincts were screaming at them, and Ghost had to resist the urge to snarl at Paku and chase him off physically.

“What?! Now?!” Iroh shouted, shocked.

**_“Yes, now!”_ ** Ghost turned to Paku, who was just standing there like a tiktik in the stagways, with a poleaxed expression on his face.

Ghost couldn’t take it anymore,  **_“LEAVE!”_ ** They shouted. Paku tripped over himself in his haste to leave the igloo. 

Ghost rushed over to the nest and sat down cross-legged, the egg nestled in the space between their crossed legs.

They looked up at Iroh,  **_“There is a collection of clean towels over there, along with a bucket. I need you to bring me the towels and fill the bucket with fresh water and boil it for at least two minutes to sterilize the water.”_ **

“Err, yes! I’ll just...go and do that!” Iroh said hastily. He hurried to comply and went outside and used some hasty firebending to melt a large chunk of ice into liquid water in the bucket. He brought it back inside and saw Ghost had made a bit of a secondary nest in their lap using one of the bigger towels.

Iroh used his firebending to begin boiling the bucket of water as he sat nervously across from Ghost and watched the egg move and rock as his nephew fought to free himself.

“Can’t we help him?” Iroh asked in concern.

_**“No, he needs to do this. We shouldn’t interfere unless his life is in danger. You can’t feel it, but the hatching process will help stabilize his magic. Without it, his flames and magic will be weakened and uncontrollable.”** _

Iroh looked unhappy at that announcement but merely nodded and continued to heat the water as he watched on anxiously.

* * *

Dear Heart floated serenely in the warm darkness. Nothing hurt, and he could feel Mother’s presence nearby almost constantly. He was comfortable and safe. He went back to sleep.

* * *

Dear Heart awoke again, but now the warm darkness felt confining! He was curled up most uncomfortably, and his face was pressed into something firm, but it had a bit of give when he threw his weight against it.

He felt Mother’s presence become concerned and nervous and thrilled all at the same time. Was something wrong? He needed to escape and go help! 

His body felt weird. ~~_(it felt as it always had)_~~ His horns felt too short and he couldn’t feel his legs! ~~_(but his horns were always like this and he’d never had legs, had he?)_~~

His arms were still there, but they felt wrong too, like they were too bendy. ~~_(they were just as flexible as they were supposed to be)_~~

He was scared now. What was happening? He wanted out! OUT!

He threw himself at whatever he was trapped in, eventually trying to bite it in his frustration. This turned out to be the right move, as a sharp protrusion on the front of his face caught on the wall and tore it open.

Cold air rushed into the small space he was in, and warm liquid flowed out. Now he was cold! He hated being cold! He threw himself out of the opening and flopped pathetically onto a soft surface.

He yelled in frustration when his weak body wasn’t moving how he wanted it to! ~~_(but he was supposed to be this weak, wasn’t he?)_~~ Where in the hell were his legs?! ~~_(but he wasn’t supposed to have legs yet, was he?)_~~

His frustration was stopped short when the yell he’d meant to make came out as an adorable ‘nyah!’ sound. 

He wasn’t supposed to sound like that! ~~_(yes he was)_~~ His eyes finally adjusted to the bright light. Everything was way too big! ~~_(no it wasn’t)_~~ Giant hands gently held him as something warm and soft was passed along his body. 

He relaxed at the sensation, before he realized his body was much too long. ~~_(no it wasn’t)_~~

He squirmed around and managed to flip himself over, making fussy noises he didn’t mean to. ~~_(except he did)_~~

Mother’s face was enormous where it hovered above him, and they were crying slightly, but the bond was screaming with joy and happiness. 

He tried to reach up towards them to comfort them, but their strange weak arms only flailed upwards for a moment before they came back down. He ‘nyah’d again and Mother seemed to smile at him and gently pressed a warm washcloth to his face and wiped the sticky liquid off of him.

He purred involuntarily at the warmth.

There was a shuffling noise and Uncle’s face appeared above him as well, “Nephew, are you there?”

Of course it was him! Who else would he be?! Zuko let out another irritated ‘nyah!’, before he felt a strange sensation. 

He scrunched up his face, before he sneezed and a small fireball flew out of his mouth and set Uncle’s beard on fire.

Uncle jerked back with a swear Zuko had never heard him say before, as he tried to put out his burning beard with firebending only to fail. 

Uncle continued to flail around with his beard on fire before Mother picked up a bucket of water that had been sitting nearby and dumped it on Uncle’s head!

Zuko shrieked with laughter! He’d never seen anything so hilarious! Uncle was soaked head to toe, and his beard had a burnt patch on one side! 

Uncle blinked incredulously before bursting into laughter as well. There was another person’s voice in the room laughing too, and Zuko looked over and saw that the voice belonged to Mother! 

Somehow, inexplicably, he knew that it was Mother’s real voice.

They had the most beautiful voice Zuko had ever heard. 

Mother looked at them with love in their eyes and swaddled him in a soft blanket. They tucked him close to their body, next to their warm fluff.

Zuko yawned. He had no idea what was going on or what had happened to his body, but he wasn’t really worried. Mother and Uncle were there, and he was safe and warm and loved. 

He snuggled into Mother’s arms and fell asleep. _(everything was right with the world)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> grimmchild!zuko is now here! bow before his adorableness! his new baby instincts are clashing with his 16 year old brain and his body's all weird again, but zuko's old hat at having weird body shit happening to him. also he lit uncles beard on fire accidentally. there will be more moments like this. the north pole is made of ice and zuko is now a creature of fire. shit's gon melt.
> 
> also ghost accidentally starting another cult. ancient waterbenders drank shit tons of lifeblood like forever ago and now they can heal. the wani crew and ghost will be chilling (ha!) in the north pole for a while now, but they'll meet up with the gaang again after they leave.
> 
> ghost has traumatized aang, because their first, second, and third options to resolve a problem are violence to different degrees, and violence isnt even in aang's playbook
> 
> so them just causally nomming on zhao's soul is gonna freak him out and mess him up a bit. the airbenders are all about the spiritual and reincarnation and the afterlife and change, so for him to learn that ghost is essentially the antithesis to everything the monks taught him is going to cause them to disagree on a lot of stuff. 
> 
> ghost is void, which is an endless, fluid, but inherently unchanging substance that destroys everything it touches and is inherently restless and violent when not unified by ghost. but ghost is also an incredibly kind and nurturing person when not provoked. they love life and living things, but will not hesitate to utterly destroy it if it becomes necessary (to them). Zhao essentially torturing their son and then basically being responsible for his murder basically okayed his total annihilation to ghost.
> 
> aang and ghost are gonna get into a lot of arguments over ozai. ghost can be a sneaky bitch though, so them pretending to agree with aang about sparing ozai, only to then totally snipe the kill when aang thinks he's won is a totally viable plan in ghosts book. to them, aang comes across as an ignorant child who has no idea how dangerous stuff really is. to aang, ghost is incredibly violent and is unwilling to look for a peaceful solution first. in a way, they're both right 
> 
> ghost grew up in essentially a post apocalyptic wasteland, not a peaceful monastery with parental figures who loved him, so their ideas on acceptable levels of violence and how to respond to a threat are much different than aangs.
> 
> the next chapter is mostly going to be the wani and co bumming around the water tribe destroying sexism through sheer force of will and cuteness. zuko going through bug puberty will also be fun to write. he'll age at an accelerated rate until his body's about 16 again, since the timeline has got to be preserved on some level.
> 
> more magic bullshit and nightmare/dream realm stuff too.


	34. Finally Free

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit of a shorter chappie, but basically nothing but adorable baby zuko. we get his POV for a lot of the chapter. he's adjusting to his new existence, and gets a bit of a shock at the end, but its good news :)

Several hours after Ghost was seen blitzing their way back to the igloo and had suddenly kicked Paku out, Iroh emerged from the igloo looking haggard, and part of his beard was burnt off.

His clothes seemed oddly wet as well. He’d informed Paku that Ghost had kicked him out so abruptly because Zuko had emerged from the egg, and was apparently now quite tiny and adorable.

Even just minutes out of the egg, Zuko was sneezing fire and Iroh had been the unfortunate recipient of said flaming sneeze, and firebending didn’t work on Zuko’s strange red fire.

Ghost’s instincts were still running high and Iroh wasn’t allowing anyone in the igloo until they calmed down. The only reason Iroh had been allowed to stay in the first place was because he was technically family and so Ghost’s instincts hadn’t felt threatened by his presence.

Iroh did his best to describe what his nephew now looked like, and Lin and Aza were practically vibrating in their need to go coo at an adorable baby.

Iroh didn’t know for sure if Zuko’s mind was all there, but he suspected that it was. His bright glowing eyes had seemed to light up in recognition of Iroh and Ghost’s faces, so it was likely that he had retained at least some of his mental faculties.

Iroh returned to the igloo to lend whatever aid he could.

* * *

Dear Heart woke up from his nap way too early in his opinion, but holy shit he was so hungry. Thankfully Mother seemed to know what he wanted and he was soon presented with a wooden spoon containing tiny chunks of fresh meat covered in blood and...lamp oil?

Dear Heart sniffed it again just to be sure, and there was indeed lamp oil mixed in with the meat, but even though he could tell that it was lamp oil, it smelled absolutely delicious.

He figured Mother knew what they were doing and wouldn’t poison him, because that made zero sense. While it was a little bit humiliating to be spoon fed like a baby, he didn’t seem to have functional limbs at the moment, and he was fucking hungry, so he didn’t care all that much.

He opened his mouth way wider than he expected to be able to, and the spoon went in. The food sat in his mouth for a second before he realized what it tasted like. It was so good. Zuko didn’t think he’d ever tasted something so delicious before in his life!

Light was shining from somewhere and angels were singing, and Zuko ascended to a level of food bliss he hadn’t even known was possible.

The meat was from some animal he’d never tried before, and it was very fatty and rich. The lamp oil added a whole new dimension of flavor he didn’t even know how to describe. It was like he had a whole new set of taste buds that could detect flavors previously unknown to him, and he was living for it!

When he went to try and chew the food a little bit, he discovered that he no longer had teeth. Before he could panic, some weird reflex made him tip his head back a little and he swallowed a bite of food that he should have definitely choked on.

The spoon was in front of his face again though, and he shoved the panic off to the side in favor of more of whatever the hell he was eating.

* * *

Ghost was happy to see Dear Heart up and displaying a very healthy appetite. They were pleased that they’d guessed correctly about what kinds of food Dear Heart would find palatable.

Little One had subsisted on meat and the flames of a dying civilization, but they had greatly enjoyed eating flammable things too. Coal, wax, dry wood, and leaves had all been snacked on much to the panic of Ghost back when they were new at parenting.

They had rushed back to Grimm in a panic the first time Little One had managed to down an entire candle before they could get it away from him. Grimm had seemed confused at their panic before he realized that he’d forgotten to tell them about that particular dietary quirk.

Grimm’s unique biology allowed him to consume flammable materials and burn them for energy inside his body like normal bugs did with food. Strictly speaking, he didn’t actually need to do this as a belief-based Higher Being with a body that was more magical construct than anything else, but he still had taste buds and they worked differently than most, and he found consuming such things to be enjoyable. 

He had passed that ability on to his child, but because his child had a physical body with physical needs, such things had become a dietary requirement. 

If it made good fuel for a fire, Grimm and Little One could eat it, and the better the fuel, the better it tasted. Easy-to-burn but long-lasting fuel was best, so lamp-oil was always a favorite.

Ghost had actually stocked up on such supplies when Dear Heart had still been an egg. They wanted to be prepared for anything, so they had gathered enough lamp oil to last until Dear Heart had gotten teeth and grown strong enough to eat solids like coal.

Turns out the Northern Water Tribe manufactured their own lamp oil from turtle- and tiger-seal fat, and when Ghost learned that it was an easily manufactured product and not considered expensive or rare, they had asked for quite a large quantity.

The family that made the oil had asked what they wanted so much of it for, and they had to explain it was for baby food for their little furnace of a son. The family had looked quite intrigued at the idea of a creature that ate and burned things to stay alive like a fire did.

Iroh had been fascinated when Ghost had explained the whole ‘living furnace’ thing, and had wondered aloud if any records existed of Li, Agni’s half-human daughter, displaying similar abilities.

* * *

When Ghost was feeding Zuko their first meal in his new body, they noticed Iroh off to the side looking wistful and nostalgic. 

**_“Would you like to feed him?”_ ** Ghost offered.

Iroh looked a bit startled at the sudden offer, but then he softened, “Thank you,” He said softly in gratitude. He hadn’t gotten to care for a baby since his own son had been born.

He’d gotten to spend only a little time with Zuko when he was that young, and this whole situation seemed to be a strange opportunity to start over and rebuild trust and support with his suddenly-tiny nephew.

Ghost shifted over and gave the bucket of bloody baby food to Iroh.

“Will he even be able to eat all this?” Iroh said upon seeing how much food was in the bucket.

**_“Yes. Grubs are like ravenous little pits. They eat way more than you would expect of a creature so small, but then again, they molt quite rapidly for the first few months of life before they slow down. They need to get all that energy from somewhere. Dear Heart will likely molt for the first time within the next couple of days.”_ **

“And what will that look like?” Iroh asked before offering another spoonful of meat to his wiggly nephew, who seemed to be enjoying the food greatly. 

Zuko was wrapped up in a towel to prop him up on the floor, and was making delighted noises at the food. Iroh tried to not wrinkle his nose too much at the smell of the odd baby food Ghost had made for his nephew.

As long as Zuko was healthy and happy.

Zuko had a snakelike body about a foot long. He had only one stubby little horn at the back of his head and small little tendrils near the upper part of his body that Ghost assured him would become wings upon the first molt. The horn would also likely split into two at the same time as well, Ghost said.

**_“Well, molting is sort of like a slower, much less extreme version of undergoing metamorphosis that happens in stages. The outer shell separates from the softer, newer one forming underneath and the outer one is sloughed off to make way for the new shell. Almost all of the growing is done right after the old shell is discarded, while the new one is still soft and malleable.”_ **

“It is not painful, is it?” Iroh asked in concern. Such a process sounded dreadful. He didn’t envy his nephew in the slightest.

**_“It shouldn’t be. If it is, then something’s wrong. Either the individual tried to hold off on the molt for too long for whatever reason, or they are malnourished. Sometimes, if the individual tries to pull off the outer shell too quickly before the shell has fully separated, that can be quite painful.”_ **

Well, that set Iroh’s mind more at ease. It sounded more like a snake-lizard shedding its old skin than anything else, except with a sudden growth spurt.

**_“He will likely develop his first set of baby fangs shortly after that as well. Luckily, all this ice will make the teething easier. We can ask a waterbender to make small ice balls for him to gum on. The cold will help relieve the pain of the teeth coming in, though it shouldn’t take long.”_ **

“Will he molt after he is fully grown?”

**_“Yes, although much less frequently. Once every couple of years, or if his shell sustains significant damage or if he suffers limb loss. If the rebirth process hadn’t happened, he likely would have molted after he reached a healthier weight and recovered a little. His wings would have regrown, then.”_ **

“Molting can restore lost limbs?!” Iroh asked, shocked. He temporarily stopped spooning food into his nephew’s mouth out of surprise, but quickly started again once Zuko started making fussy noises.

**_“Yes. Eventually, even severe damage could be healed with enough molts. There were very few crippled bugs in Hallownest. You basically had to be hatched with it for anything to really stick, but old age could also cause the same kinds of things to happen.”_ **

“Have you ever molted?” Iroh asked curiously.

**_“I’m not built the same way as a regular bug, being mostly made of Void and all, but I probably could have initiated a similar process in my youth, if I had any way to get the necessary calories into my body. The Vessels were created to be tools, not living people, but that’s how we turned out anyway, not that the Pale King cared. We had no mouth or any real organs to speak of. We were Void constructs with souls of our own, contained within a shell of our own dead hatchling bodies. Our heads were the only parts of ourselves that were truly solid and physical, the rest was all Void.”_ **

“Right…” Iroh said awkwardly. Good gods, Ghost’s past was messed up.

The spoon scraped the bottom of the bucket as Iroh scooped out the last of the food. His nephew thankfully finally looked full. He squirmed in the towel swaddling him and managed to free the little tendrils at his sides. He flapped them in Iroh’s direction in a pretty universal baby motion of ‘pick me up!’.

Iroh did so very carefully, and was surprised by how warm Zuko felt. The average body temperature for a healthy firebender was 105 degrees, and their fevers could get up to about 108 before they became serious. Zuko was at least 110 degrees, maybe more, but he seemed fine.

Iroh settled him into the crook of his arm, making sure to support his head, even if he seemed much stronger than a human infant. Zuko’s little tendrils wrapped around Iroh’s wrist and fingers when he tried to gently stroke his nephew’s tiny face.

Zuko’s eyes glowed a fiery red and they sparkled with life. He let out another adorable sound and Iroh smiled at him.

“Is it normal for him to be this warm?” Iroh asked.

**_“Yes. He’ll likely become a bit warmer as he grows. Grimm’s average temperature would be equivalent to about...120, if I had to guess?”_ **

Iroh’s eyes widened. Even the strongest firebender would be dead if their core grew that hot!

“And this is normal and healthy?”

**_“Yes, Iroh, your nephew is fine. I already checked him over, and he’s as healthy as can be.”_ **

Iroh let out a breath of relief. Zuko began to squirm and flap his little tendrils at Ghost. Iroh carefully passed him to Ghost. He settled back down and seemed to bury himself in Ghost’s fluff, twining the tendrils through the fur and hooking on like Iroh had seen baby hog-monkeys do with their mothers.

Ghost made cooing and purring noises at him, and Zuko responded with more ‘nyah’s.

The whole thing was really too cute. Lin and Aza would probably explode when they saw the pair.

* * *

After a while of Mother feeding him, Uncle soon came and took over. While part of Zuko was embarrassed at being spoon fed by Uncle, his new instincts told him this was fine, and everything was normal.

After his ravenous stomach had been filled somewhat, his head cleared a little and he realized that he was, in fact, a baby now. He’d been freaked out for a little bit, and was worried he’d have to grow up all over again, but something told him he wouldn’t have to wait sixteen more years to get back to where he had been.

These new baby thoughts and feelings were weird and Zuko didn’t know if he liked them, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it, so he ate his delicious food and listened to the fascinating conversation Mother and Uncle were having.

It brought Zuko a great amount of relief to know that even if his wings got damaged again, he’d just have to molt and then he’d get them back. He didn’t like being grounded and always wanted the option of an aerial escape available.

Molting sounded weird, but it was nice to know that he’d grow quickly and not have to deal with all his bones aching at all hours of the day anymore. When the food was gone, his new instincts demanded that someone hold him, and Uncle was closest. He wiggled his new snakish body and freed his little flappy noodle arms from the blanket prison and flapped them in Uncle’s direction, hoping he’d get the hint.

He did, and was soon being held, which felt nice. Uncle was warm and safe. He brought his noodles up and grabbed on to Uncle’s hand and fingers when he tried to touch his face.

Apparently his new body temperature was higher than it used to be, which was kind of neat. He wondered if that meant his fire was more powerful now.

He couldn’t feel his inner flame in his stomach anymore, so he guessed his bending was gone now, but in its place was a beating heart of fire in his chest that felt infinitely more powerful, even if he couldn’t access much of it yet, which made sense, seeing as how he was a baby now and all.

He didn’t quite know how to feel about not technically being a firebender anymore. He could still feel the sun, strangely enough. He wondered if it had to do with him being related to Agni, and wasn’t actually a result of him being a firebender. Evidence pointed to the answer being yes.

It probably worked that way for other firebenders though, seeing as how only the royal family was actually related to Agni, and not the general firebending population as a whole.

For so long he had defined his worth with his firebending skills, because that was what seemed to make father love Azula so much, but he’d since figured out that there were much better ways to define oneself. 

It was still just a bit upsetting though. He’d been a firebender his whole life, and now he suddenly wasn’t. He could obviously still control fire, as evidenced by Uncle’s new beard style, but he didn’t control his flames using his chi anymore.

It felt much more natural now, like simply flexing a muscle or breathing. He wondered if any firebending katas would still work for him, but he’d need to acquire limbs first in order to test that theory. 

Gods, he didn’t realize how much he used his limbs until he didn’t have any anymore! He felt kind of bad for eel-snakes now. At least he’d get his limbs back eventually.

He wanted to be held by Mother now, so he flapped his useless noodles at them next. He was soon in their arms, but when he was pressed to their fluff, his noodles grabbed on with surprising strength! They wound through Mother’s fluff and anchored him there effortlessly.

He curled his wiggly tail into it as well, so that it wasn’t hanging down, and Mother stroked his face and cooed at him. He made some noises at them to let them know he was okay, and then the pair exited the igloo.

* * *

As they walked back out into the city that was being slowly repaired by skilled waterbenders, Mother was stopped by a large group of women, who Mother was apparently teaching magic. They all noticed Zuko clinging to their front right away, and they all started gushing about how cute he was.

He was supremely uncomfortable with all the unexpected attention, and made the mistake of trying to tell them all to leave him alone. They all squealed in delight over the noises he made, and Zuko sighed. This was going to become a recurring thing, wasn’t it?

* * *

Ghost stifled a laugh at feeling Dear Heart first become uncomfortable with all the compliments about his cuteness, and then resigned when they all gushed about the adorable noises he made.

He would just have to get used to being adorable before he grew into his fearsomeness.

They gently stroked his back and began walking with the women to the training ground to continue the lesson that had been interrupted hours ago.

* * *

It had been two days since Dear Heart had hatched, and he thought he was going to molt soon. His shell felt too tight, and his sides sort of itched. 

A few hours later, when he was curled up with Mother for a nap, he awoke with the need to stretch out as much as he could and stay very still. He wiggled around a little bit to straighten himself out and lay on his side.

He focused on the feeling of breathing through his vents and being next to Mother. He seemed to fall into a kind of strange meditation, when he suddenly snapped out of it and felt the need to thrash and throw himself backwards.

He tried, but it was difficult to move. He eventually succeeded and felt something split open along his back. Cool air brushed across the new bare skin and he shivered. He continued to wiggle backwards and eventually flopped backwards and pulled his head free from what felt like a too-tight hat.

He lay there breathing and shivering. Everything felt way too sensitive and he was, once again, covered in goo! He cried out unhappily at this new state of existence, and Mother woke up and gently cleaned him with another warm washcloth.

The tiny hooked horn on the front of his face was gone now. Mother had called it an egg horn, something that hatchlings had to help cut their way out of the egg, but it didn’t stay past the first molt. 

Dear Heart lay still after he was clean. Mother’s vents puffed warm air across him, and his flesh soon had a hardened shell covering it. It was still very flexible and soft, of course, because he was still a baby.

Apparently shells only really started to harden once bugs reached the equivalent of about 7 years old, and reached full strength after ‘puberty’. Even still, the soft shell he had now helped keep him warm and stopped everything from feeling so oversensitive.

His noodles felt different too. He turned his head and saw that he now had two leathery wings tipped with claws at the top, like a wolf-bat, instead of the six insectoid ones he’d been expecting.

He was sort of upset that he didn’t share that same feature with Mother anymore, but then he remembered all the aerial stunts that were now available to him! That sort of made up for the loss. 

Mother cooed over how handsome he was and said they were so proud of him. 

He hadn’t even really done anything, though! Mother shifted in the nest and got up to go tell Uncle, who was napping over on the other bed. 

When Mother got up, Dear Heart noticed that someone had gifted Mother a small mirror decorated with glass and bone beads that was laid against the wall of the igloo. 

Mother had been given a large variety of gifts from grateful tribesman, including many baby blankets and toys Dear Heart had an admittedly fun time rolling around on the floor with.

He wondered what he looked like now. He used his now much stronger wings to sort of slither-crawl across the floor to the mirror. He had to bat at it a bit to get it to the right angle but when he finally got a good look at his face, he froze at what he saw.

His perfectly symmetrical face. _His scar was gone._

Zuko shoved himself closer to the mirror as if that would make it come back or reveal the whole thing to be a trick. There wasn’t even a marking left behind.

It was like it had never happened. The brand that he’d carried for three years was gone. The mark he always thought would be with him forever, that had even followed him to his new masked face, was now gone. That mark of cruelty that he’d defined himself by for the longest time was gone.

Zuko couldn’t believe it. He was free. It was gone! He was free!

He shrieked in joy and disbelief. 

_He was free!_

He may or may not have started crying, but he would deny everything later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know some people might be of differing opinions about the scar thing, but from a logical standpoint, if he's got a brand-new body, and not just a transformation of his old one, i dont see why the scar would go with him. zukos mental state is better and hes got much healthier relationships with those around him, so his scar being gone is sort of like being free from the shadow of his bastard of a father, in a way.
> 
> he can look at his own face and not be reminded of all that bad shit that happened to him constantly, so he's sort of shocked but happy its gone. he's moving past his trauma a bit. its really gonna shock him when he shape shifts back into a human shape and its still gone, since he was still sort of subconsciously expecting his human face to still have the scar.
> 
> ghost and iroh didnt even really notice because zuko looks so different now that it kinda just didnt hit them that 'oh hey zuko, your scar's gone!'. it had just become a feature on his face that they all just sorta looked past to just see zuko's face, and not 'zuko's face with a scar', so they just didnt notice for a few days when everything was so hectic, and cause their brains had kinda just been skipping over it for so long


	35. Interlude: The Swamp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here, have some gaang perspective, as well as the return of an old character! a bit of plot happens, as well as some angst. next chapter we get more baby!zuko shenanigans, i promise! :)

The White Lady stirred from her sleep slowly, as she did everything these days. She’d had a most unusual dream. The Nightmare Heart beat again. A new Nightmare King had been chosen.

She wondered what Agni thought of the event. Did he resent the lucky spirit, or had he helped choose them? She didn’t know. During her dream, she felt the Void stirr for the first time in eons. She didn’t know what that meant either. Perhaps the two were connected?

She pondered over such things for a long while. Then, weeks later, she felt the Avatar’s newest incarnation fly overhead. How curious. The boy was an airbender, no other peoples but the peaceful monks had ever managed to tame sky bison.

She focused her power and saw into his mind. She gently perused his memories, and stopped cold upon seeing what could only be the fabled Shade Lord. The Avatar had encountered it many months ago, and had angered it terribly, somehow.

She focused a bit more. She had to know. Months worth of memories played out over the course of seconds. She hadn’t had cause to move so fast in ages. He had encountered them multiple times, along with another creature that bore a striking resemblance to it. In the more recent memories, she saw them.

Her child. The only one left.

They appeared to have adopted or birthed another child of their own. She cried with them when the boy killed himself to spare the moon spirit. Such a strong will, to successfully fight such a binding. 

She watched as their child discarded the physical form they had made for themselves in order to exact revenge against their child’s killer. The wrath of a grieving mother was unmistakable. She would know.

It was her greatest regret, not questioning the Wyrm’s plans further.

She had only found out about the atrocities he’d committed with her ignorant help long after the fact. That argument had been legendary, but The White Lady was a peaceful soul at heart. She chose to leave and bind herself in her private gardens than seek retribution for the thousands of dead children she had unwittingly helped him create.

They watched as their child, who looked so like the Hollow Knight, rip a man’s immortal soul from his body and consume it.

The Avatar had seen the entire thing, the poor boy, but The White Lady understood their child’s rage and pain. She did not begrudge them their rightful revenge, but the boy was a monk and was horrified, and thought their child a monster of the highest order.

That wouldn’t do.

She had to know more, and there was only so much she could glean from mere memories. She called out to the boy, drew him into her roots, which had grown ever more numerous over the ages.

She didn’t truly want to separate the boy from his bison, but she needed him to stay long enough for her to contact him, and travel to her most central root, where she could talk further with him.

She was more awake and aware than she’d been since she truly started digging her roots in. She roused Huu, her most devoted follower, from his afternoon nap, and gave him a vision of him bringing the Avatar to her.

Huu was always so excited to receive even an ounce of her attention. She had to limit herself though, or her presence and magic would taint him forever. She didn’t want that. Huu would grow old and live a happy life, and pass on to see his loved ones in that mysterious Great Beyond.

She often envied the mortals for that. There were no Higher Beings left to provoke into killing her, aside from Agni, but she could never ask him to do such a thing. It would be cruel, considering his own parents' history.

There were also the swampbenders, as they called themselves. The whole swamp would decay and die if she were to perish, and they had made their homes amongst her roots for centuries. It would feel like betrayal if she were to abandon them like that.

She had forsaken enough children. Never again.

So she slept and slowly expanded her roots, and occasionally graced her followers with visions for guidance. She was wide awake now, for the first time in an age. She truly regretted how the last conversation with her child had gone, but she had been drowning in grief and self-loathing, and thought her only other child would die a horrible death to the infection, with the newest one taking their place only to suffer the same fate.

She tried to tell herself that she was just avoiding getting attached only to suffer further losses, but she regretted it all the same. She’d been shocked when she felt the infection die, strangled at its source.

She had no idea how such a thing came to be, but no one ever came to visit her again, and so the mystery had gone unsolved. She thought the small vessel must have died, sacrificing their life to save everyone.

The presence of the Shade Lord told her otherwise. The shape of their physical, masked form was too similar for it to be anyone else.

She had to know what the Avatar knew, and the easiest and least invasive way was to talk to him. Perhaps she could even persuade him to see their child in a better light, or at least be willing to understand their actions.

She monitored their progress through her roots. The other boy didn’t seem to respect nature very much, something that annoyed her only slightly. Teenage boys were self-centered creatures most of the time. Hopefully he’d grow out of it.

She felt her followers capture the bison and the small creature that traveled with it, intending to eat them. She sent them all a vision to ensure that they didn’t. They all seemed shocked that their goddess had contacted them all so directly, but treated the warning very seriously.

They took the bison back to their village unharmed, and waited for its owner to return.

Her vision-granting was not always easy to control however, especially the closer to her center one got. While the natives had a bit of an in-built resistance to it, she often accidentally gave visions to lost travelers, usually of their loved ones, or people that would be important to them later. 

She never meant to, of course, but the rumors of her roots being haunted kept most outsiders away. It was useful for keeping her roots from being overrun by the growing menace of the Fire Nation.

The visions she accidentally granted the Avatar and his friends had the pleasant side-effect of leading them all to the heart of the swamp. Huu was waiting for them there.

She felt Huu bring the Avatar and his friends to her most central root. Her true body lay deep beneath it, and she flexed her powers to open the way for them. Huu, of course, seemed shocked, but urged the Avatar onward.

It was time.

* * *

Aang had been on edge ever since he’d been separated from Appa and had fallen into this creepy swamp. Something about the place felt...alive, unnaturally so. He felt as though he was being watched.

The strange mirage he’d seen of the little girl with the flying boar only added to his uneasiness.

The swamp monster that attacked them had stopped once it had learned he was the Avatar. The monster turned out to just be a man controlling plants using waterbending.

He didn’t seem to be all there, going on about how his goddess wanted to talk to him and how she had sent him holy visions of their meeting.

Sokka kept making coo-coo motions at his own head whenever Huu’s back was turned, but he was the only real person they’d met in the swamp so far. He kept going on about how the whole swamp was connected and how his goddess would lead him back to his bison after she was done speaking with him.

When they reached the giant tree at the heart of the swamp, the creaking of wood interrupted Huu’s ramblings about how time didn’t exist or something like that.

The enormous roots of the tree moved unnaturally, and formed a small tunnel deep into the earth. Huu said that only the Avatar was to enter. 

Aang reluctantly did so, and the entrance closed up behind him. It was extremely dark inside the cave, but a faint white light shone from somewhere deeper down. 

Aang carefully traveled down the damp tunnel, and soon reached a large central room where the light seemed to be coming from.

Aang gasped when he saw what was making the light. It was a massive, glowing white tree, and after he’d made noise, a pair of milky, crystal blue eyes opened on a gently sloping face that Aang hadn’t noticed before.

“Greetings, young Avatar. I apologize for how rudely I drew you into my roots, but I must speak with you.”

The tree sounded female and ageless. Aang bowed politely, concerned about the upcoming discussion.

“Uh, that’s okay, I guess. What did you need to talk to me so badly about? Is it the comet again?”

“I know nothing of the workings of the sky, young Avatar, but I ask for information regarding my own estranged child.”

“Oh, uhh, are they lost or something? I could help you find them,” Aang offered.

“No, they are not lost. They seem to have finally found their way, instead. Tell me, young Avatar, what do you know of the Shade Lord? You have encountered them on a few occasions, and I must ask, are they well?”

“Uhh, what? I don’t know who the Shade Lord is...wait, unless you mean the big shadowy spirit monster?” Aang was confused. Why did this spirit want to know if the soul eating monster was doing well?

“They are no monster, child. They were angry and grieving over the perceived death of their own son. You would not understand, for you are but a child yourself, and know nothing of the sorrows of having to bury your own child before you. Their child’s killer was right in front of them, and they exacted justice.”

“All life is precious, and violence is never the answer, it merely continues the cycle of violence and revenge!” Aang argued.

The spirit gave him a look, despite clearly being blind.

“Tell me child, if you kill a killer, then the number of killers in the world stays the same, yes?”

“Yes, exactly!” Aang said, glad the spirit was seeing things his way.

“But, if you kill two killers, then the world is better off, is it not? Those who seek destruction and revel in killing can rarely be reasoned with or convinced to change their ways. They will continue to harm others if they are not stopped. If all life is precious, then isn’t it better for one killer to die, so that many innocents may live?”

Aang’s face fell. Everyone seemed to be against his philosophy of peace!

“But, you can stop them without having to kill them! There are other ways to neutralize a threat than violence! What if you lock them up so they can’t hurt anyone anymore?” Aang argued.

“Perhaps there are other ways, young Avatar, but such methods are usually costly and always run the risk of failure. I know such things well. Ah, but I digress. I called you here to ask about my own child, not debate philosophy with you.”

Aang was frustrated with how the conversation had been going, but he could agree to disagree with the spirit on this.

“Your own child? I thought you wanted to know about the Shade Lord?”

“Yes. They are one and the same. Many eons ago, before the existence of humans, there was a kingdom called Hallownest. I ruled Hallownest as The White Lady, along with my husband, the Wyrm, but he was known to our people as The Pale King. 

Hallownest flourished under our rule, but a threat my husband had thought sealed away forever, forgotten, returned and ravaged the kingdom with a horrible plague. It infected the dreams of our sleeping people, and rendered the infected as mindless drones controlled by her will.

Thousands of innocents died to either the infection itself, or the reanimated husks of the dead that the infection controlled. My husband refused to fight the cause of the infection directly, a forgotten god, the Old Light. He believed he would lose such a confrontation, and sought a solution in which he would not have to fight her to the death.

He sought to imprison her using a substance known to us as the Void, what we thought to be the antithesis to her poisonous light, but Void was wild, violent, and uncontrollable in its raw form. He needed to combine it with something that he  _ could _ control.

He asked me for aid, and I gave it. I produced thousands of empty seeds for him to use in his search for a solution. Alone, my seeds would never bear fruit, they needed the essence of another to become children, so I saw no harm in giving him lifeless objects for him to use.

Except they did not stay lifeless. My husband grew increasingly desperate for a solution as the infection continued to ravage the kingdom, and the Old Light grew in strength. In his desperation, he gave life to my seeds. All of them. Each grew into an egg that would hatch into a child born of me and my husband.

He thought that if he could combine a living being with the Void, it could finally be harnessed and used to imprison the Old Light. The Void destroyed everything it touched, but for a substance called Lifeblood, of which it seemed to harbor a symbiotic relationship with.

The Void was not darkness or the antithesis to light, but life itself. It was destruction and nothingness in its purest form. A true death.

My husband gave life to my seeds and anointed them with Lifeblood before tossing the eggs, our children, into the Abyss, the birthplace of the Void and home to the Void Sea. He hoped that instead of destruction, the Void would combine with our eggs and produce a being capable of containing the Old Light herself without succumbing to the infection. 

No mind to think, no will to break, no voice to cry out suffering. A being hollow of all thought or free will, incapable of dreaming or falling prey to the lies of the Old Light. Do you know what happened next?”

Aang felt ill at hearing the tragic tale, “I don’t think I want to hear the rest of the story…”

The White Lady narrowed her sightless eyes at the Avatar.

“You will. Their tale has gone unheard by any except for me. You will stand there, and you will listen. My child deserves this much. You think them a monster and know nothing of their history. You will listen.”

“Y-yes ma’am…” Aang stuttered. The White Lady was scary. She seemed to take a second to compose herself before continuing the story.

“The Void did as my husband expected. It combined with the eggs instead of destroying them. It stole our children’s lives away while they were still in the egg and spat it back into them, forever changed.

The eggs hatched. All of them. Every last one. This was unheard of. Ten thousand eggs, and not a single stillborn. Ten thousand tiny lives brought into the world by my husband's hands. Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety eight lives taken out of the world by my husband’s hands.

He only needed one. One perfect Pure Vessel to capture and contain that baleful, hateful light. The rest were discarded as useless. He forced them to climb their way out of their cursed birthplace, and if they were not pure, well. I’m sure you can fill in the blanks.

He took one vessel he thought to be pure out of the Abyss with him and locked the door behind him, unknowingly leaving a single child alive in his wake, trapped in the Abyss with the countless corpses of their siblings.

Even I have no idea how they eventually escaped that cursed place, but I am forever glad they did.

My husband claimed to have created his Pure Vessel out of Void and one of my lifeless donated seeds, and I, the gullible fool, believed him. I eventually found out the truth when I found him asleep in his private workshop, where I discovered his notes on what he had done.

He’d sacrificed the lives of ten thousand innocent children to contain a threat that he could have dealt with personally, if he hadn’t been such a coward. Instead of his own life, he chose to sacrifice the lives of others. 

I was disgusted beyond belief, of course. I couldn’t stand to be in the same room as him, or what I thought to be the empty, mindless shell of my own child. I shut myself away in my gardens and vowed to never bear seeds again. I stayed there for years, hating myself for what I had allowed to happen right under my nose.

The kingdom continued to decline, and when he finally implemented his plan, it didn’t even work. All my children dead, in the pursuit of a ‘peaceful’ resolution, when a direct confrontation, a violent one, would have saved the kingdom and prevented such an atrocity from ever being committed.

The Pure Vessel, The Hollow Knight, was as alive and thinking as the rest of us. They loved my husband as a father, and sought to please him, so they pretended to lack emotion or free will. I have no idea how or why they managed to do so.

The Old Light infected them when she was sealed into their body. They suffered for countless years, trying and failing to contain the rage of an angry goddess within themselves.

Then, countless years later, my last surviving child killed the infection at its source. I know now it was by uniting the Void, that primal force, under their own indomitable will and Ascending to godhood themselves to fight her. 

My child became the Shade Lord, a primal, ancient force of death and destruction, and they saved us all by killing a single individual.

They killed the Old Light, and ended an age of death and suffering. I know not why they have only emerged now, but they have. I seek to right an ancient wrong, as much as I am able to. 

Your current situation is not that much different. The soldiers of the Fire Nation are not controlled through dreams and magic, but lies and propaganda. The one in charge of the scourge seeks the destruction of everything else that is not their own. A single life responsible for the suffering of the world.

So, I ask you again, Avatar, Spirit of the World, will you help? Will you help the world by doing what is necessary, and kill the one responsible for perpetuating the suffering of the world? Or do you not have the stomach for it?

If you cannot bring yourself to do it, then pass off the responsibility onto someone who can! It appears as though my child has no problem dealing with threats in an effective manner. Perhaps if you ask nicely, they will do your job for you. 

I only ask that you deliver a message to my child. When you next encounter them, as you are doubtless to do, give them this.”

A small stone tablet materialized at Aang’s feet. Aang was gaping up at The White Lady, who had essentially called him a coward and told him to let the Shade Lord eat the Fire Lord if he didn’t have the guts to kill the man himself. 

Aang had no idea what to think. The entire tale was horrifying and tragic, and he felt offended on behalf of his people. The White Lady was essentially disparaging everything he’d been taught to believe was right, but Aang couldn’t even think of a way to formulate a rebuttal. 

The White Lady was also the mother to the now-named Shade Lord. Zuko called the Shade Lord ‘Mother’ and had died and then become an egg, and the whole situation was crazy. Aang bent to pick up the tablet, because he didn’t know what else to do.

The entrance to the tunnel opened up and Aang beat a hasty retreat, practically flying out of the tunnel.

* * *

He’d had a hard time telling Sokka and Katara what had happened down there, but had eventually spilled the beans.

The worst part was that both of his friends seemed to agree with The White Lady.

“I dunno Aang, I think the magic tree lady kinda has a point. The Fire Lord is pure evil, and he’s not gonna stop because you asked him nicely!” Sokka said.

“But he’s just a man, I can put him in jail!” Aang argued, who was a bit upset he hadn’t thought of telling The White Lady that. The Fire Lord was just a regular man. A powerful bender, to be sure, but still just a man, who could be locked up in a regular jail!

“But Aang, the Fire Lord surely has supporters, what if the Fire Nation tries to break him out? Then we’re right back at square one, isn’t it better to make sure he can’t hurt anyone ever again? I know the monks taught you that peace was the best way, and I’m not disagreeing with you, but surely there are exceptions?” Katara tried to gently persuade him.

* * *

They argued back and forth while Huu brought them all back to the village where the swampbenders all lived, where Appa was waiting for them all.

The villagers were all curious about them all, and they all pestered Aang over what The White Lady looked like, what she sounded like, everything. They apparently worshipped her, and had been doing so for centuries, and were no help in breaking the stalemate Aang and his friends were in over what to do about the Fire Lord.

They just agreed with whatever The White Lady wanted.

The group had been roped into staying for dinner, which had been a bit of an unpleasant affair for the Gaang. Swamp food was gross and not very vegetarian friendly.

A bunch of the swampbenders were updating the shrine of The White Lady, repainting and updating the appearance of the wooden statue to reflect what she actually looked like, according to Aang’s descriptions.

The group left first thing in the morning in order to avoid eating any bugs for breakfast, mostly.

* * *

While they were flying away, Aang turned the stone tablet over and over again in his hands, biting his lip and fretting over what he was going to do about the Fire Lord.

Was it better to kill the man himself, and forsake the teachings of the monks, or let the Shade Lord eat his soul, a fate probably worse than death, but would let Aang avoid breaking his own principles?

He didn’t know. The tablet appeared to be blank and offered no help. Aang stored the tablet in his bag and stared off into the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWL is throwing some serious shade around, lol
> 
> yeah, TWL is taking one look at the current situation and war, and then seeing the one in charge of stopping the whole thing wanting to take the peaceful solution, and are having none of that shit again. last time was bad enough. 
> 
> if i recall correctly, at some point in the show, iroh argues that he cant just fight ozai and take the throne b/c 'the world would see it as a brother fighting a brother in a grab for power' or something like that, and how the avatar, as a neutral party in charge of keeping balance, was the only one capable of bringing true peace to the world.
> 
> you know who else the people consider a technically neutral party? the spirits. guess what everyone thinks ghost and zuko are? spirits. i'm sure you can do the math here, but i cant just have ghost fly across the ocean as the shade lord rn and totally destroy ozai. i mean, i could, technically, but that would be a super lame ending


	36. Familiar Faces, Familiar Places

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we get to know the crew a bit better, and there's a couple of revelations :)

Mother had scooped him off the floor and tried to soothe him when they saw that he’d been crying after seeing himself in a mirror. They assured him that he was handsome and perfect and seemed a bit confused when he started using one of his new wings to cover and uncover his left eye.

Uncle was the first one who got the hint and exclaimed over his scar being gone. Mother seemed surprised as well, but was also happy for him. After slither-crawling around on the floor using his new, much stronger wings, he tried to get himself up in the air.

It was a bit more difficult than he’d anticipated, and he could only stay in the air for a short time before he flopped back onto the ground. He didn’t give up though, he was determined to regain even a shred of mobility!

He’d tried for what felt like hours before he finally seemed to get the hang of it. It was much different than using the insectoid wings he’d had before. Hovering in place was now much trickier, but still quite doable.

A lot of his weight was now in his wings, and he found he could change directions basically on a copper piece by throwing a wing in the direction he wanted to go. Spins and dives were now much easier as well, though he had much less fine control.

Now he was no longer basically tied to Mother every time they went outside, but they made him wear this dumb-looking baby leash because they didn’t want him wandering off and getting lost or hurt.

The women thought it was the cutest thing ever, of course, but they thought everything he did was the cutest thing ever, so.

Teething officially sucked ass, and he could see why babies always cried so much when they were going through it. Thankfully, he only had to put up with it for three days, but those three days were awful!

He was also molting every few days and getting increasingly larger. Mother thought his wings and arms would separate soon, and he couldn’t wait to have opposable thumbs again.

It was creepy to see his old shell left behind after he molted, but they usually crumbled into ashes a few hours later.

After a few molts, his fluff had grown back in and his stinger was back, although now it came out of the tip of tail. His acid was back and was as strong as ever too, which was nice. It was now also flammable, which was also super cool.

He may or may not have accidentally melted a few holes in the ice walkways discovering that little factoid, but Zuko was denying everything.

His horns had changed slightly too, they swept back a bit more and his face shape was a bit rounder than it had been. His horns had turned black but his face was still white, almost making it look like he was wearing a hat, or maybe a hood.

He was still cooed over by a majority of the female population, which was still super weird and sorta uncomfortable. He was trying to figure out how to speak again, but progress was slow.

He did have an awesome time trying out all kinds of new things that were now edible. Animal fat candles were greasy and delicious, lamp oil still tasted amazing, and coal was crunchy and spicy and awesome. Wood was dry and kinda bland, but with a nice smoky aftertaste, but it was sorta difficult to chew without stabbing the inside of his mouth on splinters. He didn’t like it that much, but it definitely helped when he was teething. 

Mother had gone back to the oasis a few times ever since they gifted the Northern Water Tribe some of the Lifeseeds that were on the  _ Wani _ . They made sure the little critters were settling in nicely, and they had to live in the oasis since it was the only plant life for miles around.

Zuko had managed to pull up a few mouthfuls of dead grass while he was there with Mother one time, there was a strange dead patch in a weird sort of trail, and that had been interesting. It crackled nicely in his mouth and was kinda sweet.

He’d tried some live grass just to compare the two, and the live stuff was much sweeter and produced a much stronger smoky aftertaste than wood did, which was interesting. Maybe it had to do with how much water was left in it?

During his next molt after that, he’d finally gotten his arms back, and two hard little nubs formed beneath his arms and a fair ways down his body. Mother said that the nubs would turn into limbs the next time he molted.

That molt took almost a week to roll around, which Mother said was normal, and that the molting would probably slow down a little after that. His legs were slightly different when they grew back. 

He’d gained an extra hoof-claw that sprouted off the back of his foot, and his other hoof-claws were a bit longer and bended easier, which made them lean more toward the ‘claw’ part of the equation than before, when they’d been much more like hooves.

His other set of arms came back, the same as ever. He figured out how to use the little claws on his wing joints to grab onto each other, and then he tucked them under his ruff, making it look like he was wearing a leathery cloak with a fluffy collar.

He was still really short though, which sucked, and his tail had started to turn back into the abdomen that he’d had before, but it seemed to be longer, and sort of more tail-like than before.

He didn’t mind that much, it actually gave his stinger a longer reach, and he discovered it was quite stretchy. If he tried, he could sort of whip it over his head like a scorpion-tarantula, which was just the coolest. 

Mother and the others decided that it was time to move on soon after he’d gotten his limbs back, and the Northern Water Tribe threw a big going away party. Mother received farewell gifts from most of the women, and they had put together a little show where they all showed off their new sword skills and waterbending together in a very captivating performance.

Large sheets of water caused strange reflections off the metal and bone of the different blades they’d managed to acquire and they slashed through floating bubbles and streams of water in their very own version of the blade-dance Mother had shown them a month ago.

Mother was so proud of all of them and had told them to never give up, and to fight for what they believed in. 

Zuko still hadn’t quite managed to get speech completely down yet, but he’d managed a congratulations as well, in a lispy, toddler sort of way. Cue even more female gushing, ugh.

The Tribe had provided them all with some supplies and a bit of Water Tribe money, and they sailed away from the North Pole in the  _ Wani _ the next morning.

* * *

Mother had wanted to go to Gaoling for some reason, but it wasn’t like the rest of the crew had any desperate need to be anywhere else, so they started the long voyage all the way to Gaoling.

Zuko continued to grow at a rapid pace on board the  _ Wani _ , and had taken to sleeping upside-down as well. It was surprisingly comfortable! His new hoof-claws had a much easier time gripping the metal of the ceiling, though he may have accidentally crunched the metal inward when testing out the grip strength of his claws. He’d grown a lot taller and had filled out more as well. 

He’d finally gotten speech down now, and his lisp was gone! He’d finally reached the same age that he had been and had since stopped molting, which was a relief. Molting was exhausting and he was always covered in gross goo afterward.

His horns had grown and had retained the little fork near the tips too, and on his forehead sat a trio of much smaller, slightly curved horns that looked like a crown.

Shortly after those had grown in, the little flame that represented the Nightmare Heart came back as well, nestled neatly behind his crown-horns. He’d sort of missed the odd thing. The actual Nightmare Heart was still in the Dream Realm though, he’d gone and checked with Mother.

It had taken up residence in the Burrow, and was steadily growing stronger. It melded with the Dream Realm much more thoroughly, and it was converting Dream Essence into Nightmare Flames at a slow, steady rate. 

Mother had been relieved, since apparently if it hadn’t started doing that on its own, Zuko would have had to go gather the Nightmare Flames himself, like Grimm had to do. 

Apparently the Nightmare Realm and the Dream Realm were always meant to be one, but the Old Light was selfish and wanted all the power for herself. She had launched a surprise attack against Grimm, her brother apparently, and severed the Nightmare Heart from the Dream Realm and severely wounded Grimm. He’d barely escaped with his life, and had been reduced to wandering the waking world, gathering Flames created from the fears and regrets of dying kingdoms or large groups of bugs.

Now that the connection was restored and Mother had begun caring for the Dream Realm, the Realms were starting to reach equilibrium again. Everything was moving and flowing again, and Zuko’s dream-related powers were growing stronger.

At night, when he slept, he was there in the Nightmare Heart, and he could sense the greatest fears and nightmares of people nearby. He kept that information to himself though, no need to go exposing the deepest secrets of his own crew like that.

He’d grown much closer with his crew ever since he and Mother had reunited with them months ago. Jee was fairly laid back but could get very riled when his buttons were pushed. He was originally a catapult operator and had eventually been promoted into an officer when the old one had died during a skirmish. Jee had been stuck on Zuko’s ship as a punishment for insubordination when he tried standing up for one of his friends who he said had been falsely accused.

Li had a brother and mother waiting for him back in the homeland, but his father had died years ago. His brother was six years younger than him, and was named Lee, ironically enough. He sent letters home whenever he could. Li had gotten stuck on Zuko’s ship after he accidentally exposed the affair his superior officer was having with another woman when he’d been in charge of monitoring outgoing and incoming communications. The man had made sure Li got put on the worst assignment he could think of, which happened to be Zuko’s ship.

Lin was bubbly and cheerful, and always wanted to help. Her entire family had been lost to a sickness that had swept through the Fire Nation years ago. Lin devoted herself to healing after that, and had graduated top of her class from the Fire Nation Royal Institute of Medicine. Uncle had apparently asked her to come personally to treat Zuko’s burn.

That had been a bit of a shock for Zuko to learn, as he thought his father had made such an arrangement. Just another strike against the man, really.

The twins were tight lipped about their past, but eventually admitted to being orphans, street rats, really. Their ingenuity and resourcefulness had gotten them noticed by a retired engineering professor. 

The man had eventually funded the twins' way through the Royal Engineering Academy, encouraging them to never give up no matter how many of their ideas failed at first, and the man had left everything to the twins in his will. The professor had had no family, and the twins had decided to continue their dreams of being the best engineers the Fire Nation had ever seen.

They’d gotten stuck on Zuko’s boat after they’d been caught making unauthorized modifications to their ship’s engine, no matter that their designs were now used in every modern Fire Nation warship.

The twins had both cried when Zuko told them that he already thought them to be the best engineers he’d ever heard of, considering that they’d managed to make the  _ Wani  _ fly and turn invisible.

Aza was fun and kind of goofy, except where her animals were concerned, and then she just turned into a giant marshmallow. When she got serious though, then she was scary. Zuko hadn’t even known it was possible to be proficient in so many weapons!

Turns out she had almost been a Yu-Yan Archer herself! She had dropped out of the program though, once she realized that she’d have to take a vow of silence to graduate, and she loved talking to her animals too much. 

She had both her mother and her aging father back in the homeland, but had become estranged from them after she had dropped out of the Yu-Yan program against her parents’ wishes.

Her bow skills were still insane though, and she was even deadlier with throwing knives than Mai had been, although he hadn’t seen Mai in years, so maybe she had gotten better?

Mai was a bit of a difficult topic for Zuko. They’d been in an arranged marriage before Zuko had been banished, and by Fire Nation law, the arrangement had been rendered null and void after his banishment. Zuko was sort of glad for that. 

Mai had been a perfectly fine person and a good friend, but she just...wasn’t Zuko’s type. He didn’t think anyone was his type actually...he’d never really been attracted to Mai, or anyone else for that matter. Romance outside of theater scrolls had never interested him either. Friends had always been enough for him, he saw no need to seek a more intimate connection with someone else like that.

He’d accidentally let that slip one night to Mother when he couldn’t sleep. They’d had an awkward conversation over tea and Zuko had come to the conclusion that he was probably asexual and aromantic. Mother had been very supportive, but Zuko was just worried about what would happen after the war.

Although Uncle would be Fire Lord after the war ended, he was too old to have another kid, and that meant that Zuko would probably be Fire Lord at some point. He didn’t know how that would work, what with his current appearance, but the Fire Lord was expected to marry and produce heirs, something that Zuko definitely didn’t want. He’d be a terrible father, and the idea of having to have sex with  _ anyone _ was just...completely unappealing.

He knew it was probably possible for him to still have kids with someone, considering that Agni had done so, but that wasn’t really the point. Thankfully, such a problem was likely many years away from being a concern, so Zuko didn’t worry about it too much.

* * *

A few weeks into their leisurely journey to Gaoling, they’d run into a problem. By now, the Fire Lord had certainly heard of Zuko basically dropping off the face of the earth and the  _ Wani _ being sold and then stolen.

Their royal stipend was no longer a thing, and they needed a way to make money to buy supplies. While they could grow a bit of their own food on the  _ Wani _ , and no longer had to pay for coal to power the ship, they still needed to buy things, and Zuko wanted to be able to pay the crew, even if they all said they were fine with going without for a while.

Mother had once again revived the idea of joining a circus. The crew, instead of just rejecting the ridiculous idea out of hand like Zuko expected, almost seemed enthusiastic over the thought.

Aza had replied that it was seeing the animals perform in the circus, only to then find out how poorly the beasts were treated that had actually ignited both her passion for animals as well as archery and throwing knives, and the other half-dozen or so weird or esoteric weapons she knew how to use.

Jee had replied that with their masks and weird magic powers, they’d all fit perfectly in with the freak show.

Li had just said that he’d have interesting letters and souvenirs to send back home.

Lin hadn’t seemed to care that much and would just go with whatever they all decided, but the twins refused to leave the ship.

At that point Mother had sat them down and asked what their deal with not leaving the ship was. 

The twins seemed to give each other looks through their masks and their body language shifted subtly, like they were having a private conversation no one else could hear. They eventually seemed to reach a conclusion and turned to face everyone else.

“We can’t leave the ship…” The twins said in unison. 

“Because we  _ are _ the ship,” Echoed out of the comm system.

The lights dimmed and brightened, and the doors opened and closed, and the prongs of the twins’ masks sparked with electricity.

“Oh, what the fuck!” Jee shouted, “You two haven’t been spying on me in the shower, have you?!”

“What? No, of course not!” The twins replied indignantly, “We figured out how to stop accidentally seeing through the comm system weeks ago, and there’s not one in the bathrooms anyway!”

“Oh...okay then, that’s fine, I guess,” Jee said awkwardly.

Everyone kind of sat around stunned for a few minutes, absorbing that information. Most of the rest of the crew just sort of shook their heads, Zuko included. Their lives were all batshit crazy, might as well add ‘two of their crew mates becoming one with the ship’ to the pile of bullshit that they experienced on a daily basis.

Mother bombarded them with questions and examined their masks again, but announced that there was nothing actually tying them to the  _ Wani _ , and that they shouldn’t have a problem leaving.

“It’s not that we  _ can’t _ leave...it’s just that we really don’t want to. It feels wrong, like being naked. Everything feels exposed, and we feel like we’re going to float off into the sky without a roof above us. We tried to leave the _Wani_ in the North Pole once, but we barely lasted five minutes…” One of them said.

“But what about all the things you guys will miss out on if you can’t leave?” Lin asked.

The twins were silent in response. Mother announced that they would do everything in their power to help them, seeing as how it was sort of their fault anyway, even though the twins kept trying to tell them that it wasn’t.

That had been a bit of a wild conversation, but it did explain why the twins’ biggest fear, right behind one of them dying and leaving the other one alone, or the ship being destroyed and everyone dying, was leaving the ship and falling into the sky. Zuko had puzzled over that one for days, but now it finally made sense.

A lot of the crew’s fears were of the ship being destroyed and everyone dying, now that he thought about it, though Mother’s version was oddly specific and very detailed. Apparently they feared that the ship would be blown up by pirates, for some reason.

* * *

The circus idea was heavily debated, but the idea eventually evolved into some kind of traveling theater troupe, once it was discovered that Mother was an endless well of stories and fairy tales, most of which had no Four Nations equivalent.

They decided to try writing out a script for a play and seeing if they could sell it to a theater to perform. Mother was really set on doing one called ‘Mulan’ which was a story about how a woman impersonated a man in order to take her father’s place in a war against some group of invaders called the ‘Huns’. 

When they described the settings and characters, it seemed like this ‘China’ place and the Earth Kingdom were eerily similar, except there was no bending at all. 

In the story, women in China, like the Earth Kingdom, were not allowed to be fighters, which almost everyone on the  _ Wani _ agreed was some sexist bullshit, considering Aza could kick the ass of anyone on the ship except for Zuko and Mother, and maybe Uncle, but only if they got to use bending or magic. 

In a ‘no powers’ fight, they’d all be fucked, except for Mother, but Mother was Mother, and they had bullshit fighting skills, which made sense, considering they had basically thrown down against an angry goddess using only a tiny sword and a few spells, and  _ won _ .

Apparently the entire story came with musical numbers too. That had fascinated Zuko, because plays in the Four Nations didn’t have music, it was all about the props and the acting.

Mother had remembered most of the lyrics to most of the songs, and had used their mimicking abilities to sing and provide music for what they remembered of their favorite one, titled ‘I’ll make a man out of you’. It was extremely catchy and good, and Zuko had never heard anything like it.

He encouraged them to make the script, and they’d all go from there. In a town as posh as Gaoling, there had to be a theater in town  _ somewhere _ .

* * *

Zuko read Mother’s completed script, totally absorbed. The play had everything! Emotional conflict, action, adventure, humor, and even a little bit of romance! All with musical accompaniments! This was genius! 

A stage master would have to be stupid to pass this up! The only problem that Zuko could see was maybe the sheer length of it, but other than that…!

Mother could even hide backstage and mimic the music through a comm system they could set up, so the stage master wouldn’t even need to hire a band! Zuko’s secret, childish dream of being an actor was finally getting a little attention, and he was excited!

The only problem was perhaps Mother and his appearances, the Earth Kingdom was very superstitious, and would freak out if they saw Zuko or Mother.

Mother proposed that now was as good a time as any to practice shapeshifting.

* * *

“It should be easiest to start with trying to shift into your human appearance, Dear Heart. The change will be a complete one, but some things will always carry over, like your fire and acid. Your mind and soul remember being human, try to picture what it felt like to have skin instead of a shell, lips instead of chelicerae, things like that, and then channel your Soul and will the change. Once that happens, it should need only minimal concentration and Soul to maintain.”

“Can you shapeshift?” Zuko asked curiously.

“Only in the most basic of ways. Void is fluid and malleable, but one cannot change it’s base nature. Nothing can. It is a primordial force given a semi-physical form. While I could attempt a more human form, it would still look almost as I am. A blank mask and a Void black body. It would be like a mannequin, but not anything recognizable as human.”

Zuko shuddered at the mental image that produced, “But then, why can I?”

“You are the Nightmare King now, Dear Heart. Nightmares are but the other side of dreams, and like dreams, nightmares are fluid things. Change is their nature, and so it is for you. I imagine if you were to hold a form long enough that your mind came to see that as the true representation of yourself, it would become your true shape. Although your base nature would never change.”

“Oh, okay...so I just have to remember what I looked like as a human and want it to happen really bad, and it will just happen?”

“Yes. Grimm was quite adept at changing his form, especially in battle. One of his favorite attacks involved him puffing up like a puffer-clownfish and shooting out countless small fireballs. It was quite difficult to counter, and I usually waited until he tired himself out to counterattack.”

“Oh, cool...so what if I…”

* * *

He and Mother practiced for hours, but he’d eventually gotten it. Mother pulled out the mirror they’d been gifted in the North Pole and Zuko beheld his entirely human face for the first time since he’d been adopted back in the cave.

His eyes didn’t even glow anymore, and the Nightmare Heart had disappeared as well. He looked totally human. It was weird, but he didn’t completely loathe everything about his human body anymore. He still liked how long and soft his hair was.

His scar was still gone, completely. It was so odd seeing his human face without it, he almost couldn’t believe it was him. The feeling of his soft skin and mobile face still felt weird, but he took comfort in the fact that he could change back whenever he wanted.

It took him way too long to realize that he was totally naked still, and yelled at Mother to avert their eyes. They chittered a laugh and threw his own now seldomly-used bed sheet over him. 

He wrapped it around himself and shivered at the feeling of the fabric on his skin. Everything felt too sensitive. The metal floor of the  _ Wani _ was cold on his bare feet. It took him a second to remember how to walk with human legs, but it came back to him quickly.

He made sure he was adequately covered by the bed sheet and went to go show Uncle.

“Uncle! Uncle come look! I figured out how to shapeshift!”

Zuko pushed open the door to the green room where Uncle usually spent most of his time.

“Nephew, there is no need to shout, I’m right--” Uncle turned around from his rare tea plant collection and froze as he took in the sight of Zuko’s scarless human face. The pruning shears clattered to the floor as Uncle rushed over to embrace him.

“Oh, my Nephew, you look wonderful!” Uncle pulled back from the hug to look at his face in wonder, “Shapeshifting you say? How remarkable! You certainly blend in better now!” Uncle said with a laugh.

Uncle looked at his face again, but now he seemed a bit sad. 

“What’s wrong Uncle, I didn’t mess something up, did I? Mother said I looked fine…”

“No, no! It’s just...you look so much like Lu Ten right now…” Uncle said quietly.

“Oh...I didn’t mean to--”

“No, you are fine my Nephew, forgive this silly old man his ramblings,” Uncle said quickly, with happy tears in his eyes. He hugged Zuko again.

“I want to show the rest of the crew, but I should probably put on some clothes first,” Zuko said, “I think we put them away in your room, remember? I didn’t think I’d need them again.”

“Right, right, that’s probably a good idea,” Uncle said, already leading him out of the green room.

* * *

The crew were all suitably impressed and offered their own congratulations and Aza asked him how he felt about the whole thing, and if he’d be taking on a human form around the ship now.

“It feels weird, but I don’t hate it as much as I used to. I’ll probably only be like this if I need to blend in though. I’m happier in my real shape.”

Aza simply nodded and accepted that answer without further questions. Zuko liked that about her. She loved to gossip, but not about important things related to her friends. She always respected people’s privacy where it mattered. Strangers and people she disliked were totally fair game though.

They decided to proceed with their plans to sell the script to a theater and get a portion of all the ticket sales too.

They sailed around a strange swamp instead of going right over it at Mother’s urging. The swamp felt familiar, but not in a good way. It ‘gave off weird vibes’, they said.

Zuko recalled stories of there being a cursed or haunted swamp somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, and agreed that they should avoid the place.

Before too long after that, they arrived in Gaoling. They had the ship hovering, invisible over a clearing a few minutes outside the outskirts of Gaoling, hidden behind some of the strange steep rock cliffs dotted around the place.

Zuko had been practicing holding his human shape for long as possible, and spent time playing pai sho with Uncle, to make sure that the disguise wouldn’t slip if he started concentrating on something else.

It actually made for great training, and Uncle was overjoyed to spend so much time with him playing pai sho. Uncle forced cup after cup of rare extinct teas down his throat, and Zuko couldn’t lie and say he totally hated all of them. 

A couple were actually really good, but he pretended to hate them all, over dramatically, and Uncle would roll his eyes and ask if he wanted another cup to which Zuko would reply with a disgusted ‘yes’. They would eventually crack up laughing. It was wonderful.

Mother had also noticed that Aza often found excuses to be out on the deck when he and Mother were doing some stunt flying and mock races. Mother had eventually asked her why, and it turns out Aza had long held the impossible wish to have wings of her own and admitted to feeling no small amount of envy for Zuko and Mother’s wings.

Zuko had then remembered the Monarch Wings, and Mother easily agreed to allow Aza to have them. When Aza first used them to take to air with them she cried. She wouldn’t stop thanking Mother, who looked a bit flustered at all the heartfelt gratitude.

She joined their races and stunt flights, and even took her bow with her sometimes, and practiced shooting from the air as she hovered in place. She’d be absolutely lethal in a fight, especially at long range.

* * *

The whole group had decided to go to Gaoling to look for a theater. They elected to leave their masks behind, even the twins, who had found a temporary solution to what Mother called ‘agoraphobia’ which was an ancient term for the fear of wide open spaces. 

Apparently, many bugs in Hallownest had suffered from the same thing, and there were a few strategies Mother knew of to help with the fear.

The solution was to wear heavy cloaks with small stones in the pockets to weigh them down and carry parasols over your head so you couldn’t see the sky. 

The twins looked kinda silly, but no one was going to make fun of them, that would just be mean.

They didn’t like having to leave their masks behind either, but the group was trying to look at least passably normal.

Mother had to stay behind to avoid causing a panic, which they absolutely hated and refused to leave Zuko alone. They had eventually compromised by using their Void powers to hide in Zuko’s shadow. While it made Zuko’s shadow look darker than it should have been, it wasn’t overly noticeable.

* * *

They all walked into town together before they split up to search for a theater, and while Zuko was out asking around, he heard some teens talking about something called ‘Earth Rumble’, only for a familiar childish voice to ask the teens where it was.

The Avatar got shot down quite rudely and the teens walked off laughing, only for Katara to chase after them. Zuko followed her back to the Avatar’s group, intending to surprise them with his new appearance. 

He’d tied his long hair back in a way that was common for teens in the Earth Kingdom to do and wore appropriately colored clothing Uncle had gotten a while ago, just in case. Other than his pale skin and gold eyes, he looked just like an Earth Kingdom native.

* * *

“You ready to find an earthbending teacher? Because we're going to Earth Rumble VI!” Katara said smugly, looking proud. 

“How'd you get them to tell you?” The Avatar asked her, impressed.

“Oh...a girl has her ways,” She said mysteriously.

“And by that, she means violence,” Zuko chimed in, smirking, “The ice was a nice touch.”

“Zuko?!” Sokka shouted out, shocked by both his sudden appearance, and his human form, “Your scar’s gone!”

“Don’t blow my cover,” Zuko said jokingly, not worried in the slightest, “I’m going by Lee right now, actually.”

“How are you looking so...human?” Aang asked, apprehensive. Last time they had seen Zuko, he’d been an egg.

Zuko buffed his nails on his shirt, looking exaggeratedly nonchalant, “Oh, just a small bit of shapeshifting. Mother taught me.”

“Oh, that’s...neat. Speaking of which, are they...here?” Katara asked, looking around as if she would find Mother just standing around out in the open.

Zuko simply pointed at his own shadow, which raised its hand and waved independently from Zuko, who was standing completely still.

“That’s so creepy,” Sokka muttered.

“Anyway, I heard you were going to Earth Rumble? It sounds like fun, maybe me and the crew will swing by. You looking for an earthbending teacher?” He said to the Avatar.

“Yes…?” The Avatar replied nervously.

“That’s good. Mother seems to think you’ll find them here.”

“Wait, really? How do they know that?” Katara asked.

“Oh, Mother can see the future sometimes.”

“Oh, come on! No one can tell the future for real! There was that whole mess in Makapu, remember?” Sokka yelled out.

“Well, nothing is ever set in stone of course, but they seemed pretty sure about this one.” Zuko said, “Didn’t a volcano erupt near there? There were some pretty wild rumors flying around the ports about Makapu a few months ago. People were saying the Avatar fought a volcano and won.” Zuko said, raising a questioning eyebrow at the Avatar.

“Well, that’s one way to put it…” The Avatar mumbled, “There was this fortune teller lady called Aunt Wu who said the volcano wouldn’t destroy the village that year, but Sokka and I went up to the peak of it to get a Panda Lily, and saw that the volcano was going to erupt and we tried to convince the townsfolk, but they didn’t listen.”

“Yeah, and those villagers would have gotten toasted if it wasn’t for Aang! We eventually convinced the villagers to try and prepare for the eruption by tricking Aunt Wu into giving a fake prediction of ‘volcanic doom’ or whatever, but we were too late, and the whole town was gonna be destroyed, but Aang whipped out some crazy airbending and cooled all the lava off in a big wave!” Sokka shouted, waving his arms around.

“Sounds like an interesting time,” Zuko replied mildly.

Aza came jogging up behind him, looking excited.

“Hey, Captain! We found the theater! It’s over this way down the street,” Aza said, pointing down the road, “Woah, this the Avatar and friends? What are you guys doing here?”

“They’re trying to find an earthbending teacher for the Avatar,” Zuko said.

“I have a name, you know!” Aang said, irritably.

Zuko simply raised his eyebrow at the Avatar. He knew the boy’s name, of course, Mother had told it to him when they had first met, he just never elected to use it.

“I know your name, Avatar.”

“Then how come you never use it?!” The boy huffed.

“Because it’s ever so fun to see you get upset,” Zuko replied with a shit eating grin.

Aza laughed, “Oh, come on Captain, stop teasing the poor kid! He looks like he’s about to skip the bending cycle and go straight to breathing fire!” She pointed at the boy's reddening face.  


“Oh, he already sort of did that. I had to step it to stop him from doing something dumb,” Zuko replied flatly, no longer amused. He didn’t like thinking about what came after that.

“Wait, really? When? You never told us that,” Aza said.

“It was right before I got kidnapped by Zhao, that bastard.” Zuko spat.

“So you really did get kidnapped? We never got to ask about that with things being so crazy in the North Pole,” Katara said.

“Yeah. I couldn’t get out of the river in time, my wings had gotten wet and were sort of buried in the sand, I had to be careful with them or they’d tear, but of course it didn’t really matter. Zhao had some kind of binding trap ready, and then another one that controlled me like a puppet. Bastard ripped off what was left of my wings after he had me bound under his control,” Zuko said darkly. 

Mother thrashed in his shadow, shadow tendrils lashing out of its form. He could feel their anger through the bond. They had never really talked about what had happened to him while he was kidnapped. Zuko didn’t want to talk about it, it was humiliating being constantly debased by the man for his own sick amusement and not being strong enough to stop it.

“That sounds awful, I’m sorry that happened to you…” Katara said softly.

“Tch, whatever, the bastard got what was coming to him. Serves him right for fucking with shit he didn’t understand. Those bindings were forbidden magic back when there was still a government around to regulate that crap. I have no idea how Zhao knew any of it, but it doesn’t matter. He got what he deserved.”

“No one deserves to have their soul eaten!” Aang argued.

Thankfully it was a slow market day due to everyone getting ready to attend Earth Rumble, so no one was around to overhear the conversation.

“Oh, is that what Mother did? I just thought they killed him, but that works too, I suppose. What do souls even taste like?” He asked curiously, not really expecting an answer, but he got one anyway.

**_“I don’t know if all souls taste the same, since I’ve only had the one, but Zhao’s tasted like a particularly good steak,”_ ** Came Mother’s ethereal voice from his shadow.

The Avatar looked ill, and his friends didn’t seem much better off.

“Really? Huh, imagine that,” Zuko said, intrigued.

“How are you so calm about that?! What happened was horrible! Souls are meant to reincarnate, not just get eaten! Violence isn’t the answer!” The Avatar yelled, looking disgusted.

Zuko hissed, a decidedly inhuman noise. He felt his teeth sharpen as his hold over his guise slipped, ever so slightly. His eyes began to glow red and he said his next words very clearly so that the Avatar understood perfectly. He practically loomed over the group of ignorant children.

“That man kept me captive inside my own body for nearly two weeks. He beat me and degraded me constantly, and he laughed about it. He thought it was the funniest thing ever, to not feed me or give me water for two weeks. If it wasn’t for the kindness of his crew, I’d just be dead. No do-overs or rebirth, just dead.  Frankly, I’m impressed that Mother ended him so swiftly. I’d have made it hurt first. Made him bleed like he did to me. See if he found it so funny then. 

Get off your high ostrich-horse, Avatar. This is war, and people die in wars. Good people and bad people alike. If you keep trying to spare everyone, you’ll save no one.”

Zuko straightened up from where he had hunched over slightly in rage, he reigned in his thrashing magic and forced his flames down, and resettled his disguise. He backed up from the Avatar’s group and gave them a hard look. Mother’s rage was bright over the bond, and they were dangerously still inside his shadow.

“Come on Aza, let’s go find that theater,” He turned on his heel and stalked away, just a bit of predatory sway to his gait.

Aza gave the frightened group a look, “You all better treat my Captain right, he forgives too easily,” She pulled out a throwing knife and started cleaning her fingernails with it, “But you’ll find that I don’t.” She gave them all another disdainful look before she left.  


Aza turned around to go comfort her Captain. He sounded like he could use it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> zuko is aroace in my story b/c i cant write romance for beans :/ and aro and ace people don't get enough representation in media. as i myself am ace, this felt important to me. i always thought mai and zuko's relationship felt awkward and forced in the show. i didn't hate it, but i feel like it could have been removed easily and nothing would have really suffered for it. 
> 
> i honestly thought mai and ty lee had way better chemistry, but yOu CaN't PuT a LeSbIaN ReLaTiOnShIp In A kId'S sHoW! *insert that one spongebob meme* 
> 
> also im so unbelievable mad at the horseshit the writers of korra pulled with korra and asami at like the very last minute, and then claimed that they supported the LGBTQ+ community. if you have to put out an announcement confirming that two characters are in a relationship b/c no one knows for sure and people are confused, you failed at writing that relationship. honestly, fuck everything about legend of korra. as far as i am concerned, it was a glitch in the matrix and doesn't actually exist
> 
> ANYWAY, zuko's feeling better about his overall human-ness, but he still prefers being a buggy boi. that wont change. he's finally started the journey towards trying to balance these two halves of himself, that being the nightmare king and the future fire lord and leader to his people. poor zuko's still under the impression that iroh's gonna be fire lord at least for a while, but we all know that aint happening. :)
> 
> toph is incoming and she's gonna make a big splash with the gaang. what's the violent blind girl going to think about the eldritch horrors that keep bumping into the gaang? not like she's gonna give a rat's ass about what they look like, and we all know that toph was pro killing ozai and is pro violence in general, lol.
> 
> aang totally forgot to give zuko the tablet, but to be fair, they were not expecting to run into him in gaoling of all places.
> 
> also zuko's inner theater-kid is flourishing. I'm planning on there being a whole arc where ghost's rendition of disney stories and other folk tales they remember from being human causes some waves in the four nations. as far as i can tell, the fire nation is the only nation to allow women to be fighters, so the story of Mulan is gonna rock the earth kingdom's shit. its gonna be very controversial and popular, and ghost being a feminist icon is going to be a running gag. they aren't female and don't have a gender, but that just means they find sexism especially stupid.
> 
> how do you think toph's gonna react to ghost's ideals of 'women can be warriors too, and fuck what anyone else says'? she's gonna bond with katara over that. they both have different struggles with their opinions on gender roles, and toph has a further struggle with all the ableism the atla world's got going on right now. 
> 
> ghost and toph are gonna get on like a house on fire, considering toph is sorta the closest thing to a violent feral hallownest baby outside of zuko. she's even younger, but ghost can recognize how tough and determined toph is, and they gonna encourage that instead of trying to squash it like toph's parents do. hallownest was all about being self sufficient, and most people had some fighting skills, aside from the nobles.
> 
> leg eater was blind, but he managed to make, sell, and repair charms. he seemed to be doing okay on his own, so ghost has no reason to believe that toph cant be independent too.
> 
> they still gonna spoil the shit outta her though. we have not seen the last of nana!ghost :)


	37. Player Toph Has Joined The Fight!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's toph time, fuck yeah! tbh im not super happy with how the theater scene came out, but i wanted to get this chapter out at some point today, so here you go! sorry its kinda late but whatevs. I live on the west coast of the US, and my town just got the shit-est weather today. it was like halfway between snow and rain, and everything was super slushy and gross and freezing fucking cold. :( driving was sketchy, especially since i dont have my nice studded snow tires on yet, because the fucking les schwab was booked clear out until fucking December >:( lol whatever, ignore my bitching and enjoy the chappie! :)

Zuko stalked his way down the street, mad that he’d been forced to think about what Zhao did to him,  _ again _ . He hadn’t told anyone, not even Mother, that he had nightmares about the whole experience, usually ending off with him just dying permanently at the North Pole.

In the worst one, he’d followed Mother around as, ironically enough, a ghost. He’d had to just sit there and watch as they broke down before they brutally killed Zhao and then returned to the Abyss, never to emerge again and wasting away in the dark, alone.

He hated that nightmare the most. Thankfully, Zuko wasn’t one of those people who screamed during nightmares. He was very quiet instead. He remembers waking up in a cold sweat, hanging from the ceiling and crushing the metal he was gripping with his hoof-claws.

Point was, no one knew about them and Zuko wanted to keep it that way. How dumb was it that the Nightmare King got nightmares himself? That just sounded stupid and so Zuko just kept it to himself. Thankfully the nightmares were fairly infrequent, so his sleep hadn’t suffered that much overall.

He just knew he’d be having one tonight though. Thanks for that, Avatar.

Aza eventually caught up with him and gave him a friendly shoulder bump.

“You know we’re all here for you if you ever wanna talk about it, right Captain?”

Zuko just grunted, “Yeah I know. Thanks for the offer, but I’m fine.”

Aza looked like she believed absolutely none of that, but let the matter drop. Mother sent love and what felt like apology over the bond.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, Mother. You weren’t the one who hurt me, and you already took care of the problem. You came as fast as you could, I know you did,” Zuko said quietly, looking at where Mother lay in his own shadow.

Mother still felt horribly guilty, but the group had arrived at the entrance to the theater, so Zuko resolved to resume the conversation later.

“Hey, imma go find the others. You have the script and other stuff, right?” Aza asked.

“Yeah, it’s all in my bag,” Zuko patted the small pack he had slung over his shoulder.

“Sweet, I’ll be back with the others,” Aza said before she walked off and disappeared around a corner.

Luckily, it looked like Zuko had caught the theater on a slow day. They were done with shows for the day, so hopefully he could talk to the stagemaster without any problems.

Zuko pushed the doors open and walked inside.

* * *

The theater seemed to be a fairly nice one, with clean paint and tasteful carvings in the stone and wood that made up the place. The seats were layered downwards, and the stage itself was stone and slightly elevated with Earth Kingdom emerald curtains.

Various staff milled around completing small tasks like taking down props and sweeping the isles.

Zuko approached a short, stern-looking woman shouting directions at a man trying to shift a large wooden prop of a mountain. Zuko was just about to open his mouth when the man pushing the prop yelled and there was a sound like wood snapping.

The whole giant thing started to tip forwards, right towards the woman! Zuko’s heightened reflexes kicked in and he stood in front of her and held up his only pair of arms and caught the falling prop, grunting a little at the weight. 

The damn thing was heavy as all hell, and he grunted at the woman to get out of the way. She did so, shocked, and Zuko stepped back and let the whole thing fall to the floor with an enormous bang. In his real shape, that much weight would have been nothing, but he was much weaker when he was maintaining his human guise.

Mother was thrashing in his shadow and he hoped no one noticed.

A burly man came running out from behind the prop shouting, “Mrs. Ping, are you okay?! One of the support beams snapped! You’re not hurt are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks to this young man here,” The woman, Mrs. Ping apparently, turned to him, “Speaking of which, that was some catch! You must be stronger than you look, it takes at least two of my biggest guys to move that thing easily. Why are you here anyway? Next show’s not till tomorrow and I know all my employees, and you’re not one of them.”

“Uh...adrenaline's a powerful thing. Oh, but I’m here because I wanted to see if the stagemaster would be interested in maybe buying an original script?” Zuko shuffled awkwardly, well aware that he wasn’t selling the idea to Mrs. Ping very well. He felt even more awkward than normal in his human body and tried to not fidget too much.

Mrs. Ping gave him a strange look, but eventually said, “Well I’m the stagemaster, and I have been meaning to get new material, and you did just save me from getting crushed, so the least I can do is look at it. What’s it about? Give me a quick summary,” She held out her hand, and Zuko scrambled to retrieve the script from his bag. The thing was enormous, and Zuko carefully handed over the thick set of scrolls and began giving a quick overview.

“Well, it’s set in a fictional land, and it’s about a woman named Mulan who impersonates a man in order to take her father’s place in a war, since every household was expected to contribute at least one soldier, and women weren’t allowed to fight.

She successfully enlists herself and fools everyone. At first all the other soldiers make fun of her, thinking her to be weak, since she wasn’t as strong as the others, but she makes up for it by using her smarts to come up with superior ways to complete the training exercises and starts winning everyone’s respect.

She eventually uses a firework to cause an avalanche that totally decimates the invading army, the Huns, but is wounded in the process. The others all find out about her lies, and they abandon her on the mountain.

The others all leave to go bring word of their victory to the Emperor of China, the fictional nation they fight for, but Mulan realizes that some of the Huns survived the avalanche and plan to assassinate the Emperor, so she rides by herself all the way to the capital to warn everybody.

There’s a big climactic fight at the palace and she defeats the leader of the Huns using her smarts and a bunch more fireworks, and saves the Emperor’s life, earning the respect of all of China and bringing honor to her family,” Zuko finished. He hoped he didn’t make the whole thing sound stupid.

Mrs. Ping looked surprised at the synopsis, and gave the scrolls a considering look. She unrolled a couple of the ones that contained the lyrics and illustrations of choreographed dancing of one of the songs.

“What are all these extra scrolls for? This looks like a song? With dancing?” Mrs. Ping said, confused.

“Oh, um, the whole play has a bunch of songs and dances that blend into the performance. It’s called a musical. It was Mother’s idea. The big scroll is the actual script, and there’s notes in there on where each song goes,” Zuko admitted.

Mrs. Ping scanned the script quickly, seeming to grow more interested the more she read.

“Chan, take five, I need to go read this…” She said, before she wandered over to a small table with a couple of chairs set off to the side, eyes glued to the script the entire time. Zuko took that as a good sign.

Zuko stood awkwardly off to the side while he waited for Mrs. Ping to finish reading the whole thing. She was tearing through the script at a frightening pace, occasionally laughing at what Zuko hoped were the funny parts and unrolling the music scrolls to look them over curiously. 

Zuko was nervous. While Mother had written the bulk of the script, Zuko had proofread it, and had translated the entire thing out of High Paleian. Zuko had been slightly surprised to learn that Mother couldn’t read the language of the Four Nations, but it made sense. Who would have taught them?

When they had taught Zuko how to speak and write High Paleian, Mother had written out the words in High Paleian and then had verbally explained what each symbol meant. Their mind-speech had gotten rid of the language barrier entirely, but only verbally. 

They had picked up the spoken language when Zuko had used the Dreamnail on them, though their mouth and throat didn’t allow for them to speak it, but the voice they made for themselves didn’t actually use their mouth.

It just sorta emanated from them, though it was actually audible and not mind-speech, which is probably why it sounded so ethereal and strange. It was actually the same method they used when they were mimicking sounds.

Zuko was snapped out of his musings when Mrs. Ping came up to him with a serious expression on her round face.

“This. This is amazing. You wrote this yourself?” Mrs. Ping demanded.

“W-well, Mother actually wrote most of it, but I proofread and translated it.” Zuko stuttered, nervous about being put on the spot like this. Gods, he was so bad at lying with no warning like this!

“Translated?”

Zuko cursed himself in his mind for accidentally letting that slip.

“Yes, Mother’s native language is very old and very different from Common.” That much was true.

“Hmm...this whole thing is brilliant, the only problem I see is that the music will be difficult to provide, we may have to keep it to just singing, but that probably wouldn’t sound nearly as good.”

“I may have a solution to that problem, but it depends on how you feel about certain things.”

Mrs. Ping raised one eyebrow, “It’s not anything illegal is it?”

“What? No! It just depends on how...superstitious you are...” Zuko trailed off.

“You mean about spirits and such? I’m a well-traveled woman and I don’t scare easily. I actually own a chain of theaters across the Earth Kingdom that I sometimes travel between, but I live here in Gaoling. Now, what do spirits have to do with your solution to our music problem?” Mrs. Ping asked skeptically.

“I have some devices a friend made that can record and transmit sounds across vast distances, but they aren’t technology in the traditional sense. I have some with me actually, I could show you?”

“Go on then, you’ve got me curious. What’s your name anyway? If we’re going to be working together on this, I should know your name.”

“Does that mean you want to buy the script?” Zuko asked, hope in his voice.

“Does it--of course it does! We’ll have to wait to negotiate prices after we do a debut show, just to gauge how much the audience likes it. I don’t want to short-change you, I’m not that kind of business woman. My husband left me plenty of money after he passed away years ago, but his true passion was for theater. He left his whole company to me, and now I run everything. Now, your name?” She asked sternly.

“Oh, uh, you can call me Lee.”

Mrs. Ping gave him a flat look.

“That’s the fakest fake name I’ve ever heard, but you can keep your secrets. Everyone has them, and you’re entitled to a few of your own. You colony types have a good reason to want to escape everything. I won’t rat you out. Now, about these mysterious ‘devices’?”

Zuko blinked at her for a second, but shook himself out of it. Let her believe whatever she wanted, except the truth. He swung his pack around and pulled out a recording device and one of the spare comm units Li had made in advance.

“This one will record any noise it hears within a certain radius and can replay the recorded sounds at will, and these other ones transmit the sound, so theoretically, I could be halfway across town and you could still hear my voice, but I wouldn’t be able to hear you unless you had your own set,” Zuko explained.

Mrs. Ping looked incredulous, “And how do these things work? They look like rocks with glowing lines painted on them. You better not be messing with me! I don’t have time for tomfoolery!”

“Would you believe me if I said they were magic?” Zuko tried, “Here, I can demonstrate so you know that they work.”

Mother had pre-recorded a song as a sample, and Li made sure the 'speakers' and recorder could function for someone without Soul. 

They filtered Soul out of the air like the idols on the ship did and stored it internally. There were symbols carved into the front that responded to touch instead of a burst of channeled Soul.

Zuko set the ‘speaker’ on the table and placed the recorder next to it before he pressed the ‘play’ symbol on the recorder. It looked a bit like a sideways triangle.

A cheery tune with Mother’s mimicked voices singing started up out of the ‘speaker’. Mrs. Ping jumped back at the sudden noise, but looked fascinated at the musical miracle occurring on the table.

The other workers all looked up in surprise at the sudden orchestra that had seemed to come from nowhere. They eventually wandered closer to the table and noticed the small stone devices making music from nowhere on the table.

The song concluded shortly and the recorder and speaker went inert once more, their glow dimming but not totally vanishing.

“What in the name of Oma and Shu was that?! How were those rocks making music?” Came the voice of Chan.

“Magic, apparently,” Mrs. Ping said, amazed, “You said a ‘friend’ made these for you? They wouldn’t happen to be a hypothetical spirit, would they?”

The workers all looked startled at the mention of the spirits, but not terrified. Zuko hoped that was a good thing.

“And what would happen if I said yes?” Zuko said cautiously.

“Well, first I’d want to tell them how impressed I was, and second would be to ask them if they took Earth Kingdom money, because I want at least a dozen of the things!” Mrs. Ping said excitedly, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to hire a musician, let alone many of them at once? Only rich folk go to music halls to listen to so many instruments at the same time, but these things just do it all at once!”

“Oh. Well, in that case, no, my friend is totally human, but they were taught how to make these and can do a little magic of their own.”

“They a changeling? Y’know, like in the stories?” Chan asked, looking apprehensive.

Zuko couldn’t help but laugh a bit, “Oh no, not at all! Li’s not normal by a long shot, none of us are, well, except for Uncle, but Li’s not a changeling.”

“There are more of you? Can you all use magic?” Chan asked curiously.

Zuko wasn’t sure if he should answer truthfully, but he was a shit liar, and the others would probably be able to tell if he did.

“To different degrees, yes. Uncle can’t though, he’s actually the only normal person in our little group of misfits.”

“Hmmm...adrenaline, I think you said it was?” Mrs. Ping said, giving Zuko a scrutinizing look.

Zuko tried to not just bolt at all the attention he was getting from these total strangers. Maybe this whole idea was a mistake, but Zuko really needed the money…

“Ahahaha…” Zuko chuckled nervously, “I really am just stronger than I look…”

“Well, whatever. I’m sure we can all be polite to each other. I can’t imagine why anyone involved with the spirits would come here and show me all this if they had bad intentions. I’ll pay for more copies of whatever these things are, fair and square, and you’ll of course get a percentage of all ticket sales if the show does well,” Mrs. Ping said, “Now all of you, quit gawking at the poor boy and get back to work, it looks like we’ve got that new, fresh material we’ve been looking for!”

The others shuffled off back to work, and Zuko and Mrs. Ping put their heads together to iron out the details of the upcoming debut of ‘Mulan: A Musical Experience’. Mother hummed contentedly in his shadow, shifting around occasionally and listening to the proceedings with interest.

None of them noticed Chan on the other side of the theater hall, watching ‘Lee’s’ shadow move all on its own with an apprehensive look on his face.

* * *

Zuko didn’t get back to the  _ Wani  _ until late that night. The crew had all decided to go to Earth Rumble VI, but Zuko couldn’t be bothered. He was exhausted from hashing out the details of the show.

Mother would make recordings of all the songs, one with singing, and another version without, so that the actors could learn all the lyrics and how each song was meant to be sung, and then sing along with just the music playing during the actual show. 

While most of the actors weren’t trained singers or dancers, they were all quite eager to learn. This play was fresh and completely new, and utilized methods they’d never heard of before.

It was all very experimental, but being an actor required taking risks, and this play at least sounded like fun!

* * *

The crew of the  _ Wani _ all squished in next to each other high up on the stands. They didn’t know why no one else was sitting up front, but figured they had a good reason, and so the crew didn’t either.

The twins were much more relaxed once they were in the enclosed arena and were sandwiched in between the others. They had gotten a bunch of weird looks for their cloaks and parasols, but they didn’t give a shit what anybody else thought.

They could go outside again without freaking out now, and that was good enough for them, no matter how silly they looked. Of course, when they were inside they didn’t use the parasols, but they kept their hoods up.

The crew noticed the Avatar’s group sitting in the front row, to which their neighbors mocked them for and started laughing about how they’d move after the first time they almost got crushed by a stray rock.

Well, that was one question answered. They all brought snacks from the  _ Wani _ , and Lin had smuggled in a bottle of Bloodwine which she was drinking out of a reed straw while the bottle was hidden in her bag to disguise its glow.

She’d been home-brewing Bloodwine ever since she’d had a taste of the stuff back at Agni’s temple in the Dream Realm. It was barely alcoholic, but she’d accidentally figured out a way to ferment it that made it excessively fizzy, which she greatly enjoyed the sensation of. Her dreaded chemistry classes were finally paying off in the form of home-brewed fizzy booze!

Lin didn’t notice that the man sitting behind her could see into her bag from his elevated position, and was a bit freaked out by the woman in front of him drinking a glowing blue liquid.

He eyed the strange pair of twins in cloaks and inconspicuously shifted a few dozen seats away.

The matches started and the crew were enjoying themselves immensely. It was great getting to watch earthbenders really go at it, but in a way where no one was dying. Jee kept up a quiet commentary about how some moves would be useful in a combat situation, while others were ridiculously over exaggerated and only good for the visuals.

They were all mortified when ‘Fire Nation Man’ took the stage. They booed probably louder than anyone else in the stadium. That man was a mockery of literally every bad stereotype they’d ever heard of regarding the Fire Nation and its people.

Was this how the Earth Kingdom saw the Fire Nation? No wonder the racism was so bad.

They all cheered like everyone else when the man was quickly ejected from the arena. Seriously, he was so cringey, they were just glad he was off the stage. 

The Blind Bandit seemed to be an interesting person. She was clearly actually a blind child, and she kicked serious ass. She beat The Boulder like it was nothing! Then the Avatar challenged her and knocked her out of the arena and took the prize money, ruining the show. So lame.

* * *

Mother was busy carving and recording all the music for the upcoming play, and so didn’t notice when Zuko snuck out late one night. Zuko loved Mother to bits, but they could be just a bit overprotective sometimes.

Zuko understood, of course, considering what happened last time Zuko went off on his own, but sometimes he just wanted a little time to himself. So, he snuck out one night and cloaked himself in a sort of notice-me-not spell and took to the skies. 

He had fun hanging upside-down from various ledges and overhangs of houses, and just generally swooping around. He eventually went to go check out the Earth Rumble arena, considering he hadn’t gone with the crew yesterday night.

However, instead of dead silence like he’d expected from the arena in such wee hours of the morning, he heard the voices of many people coming from inside. It sounded like a hostage situation, and the Avatar had been captured, again! Unbelievable!

Zuko nearly shouted in frustration and reapplied the cloaking spell, before dashing inside. The Avatar and a younger girl were suspended from the ceiling in big metal boxes. 

The girl had quite a bit of fire in her, Zuko was impressed! Most little girls would be bawling their eyes out, terrified, but this girl was shouting about how she was going to kick all their asses! It was actually kind of hilarious. 

Zuko decided to hang back in the shadows for now, and observe before he jumped in to help. He watched as the girl’s parents arrived and paid the ransom easily, and felt a small twinge of envy that the girls had parents that clearly cared about her so much. 

His own father would have never paid a ransom for him, and five hundred gold pieces was no small amount of money!

He couldn’t help but snarl quietly when one man, Xin Fu, refused to release the Avatar, saying that he intended to turn him over to the Fire Nation and collect the hefty reward money! Did Xin Fu not realize how important it was that the Avatar master all the elements so he could stop the war?!

The man was clearly Earth Kingdom! That reward was meant for a Fire Nation citizen, if they somehow managed to capture the Avatar. His father wouldn’t pay Xin Fu a single copper piece! The Fire Lord would just kill him and take the Avatar, not reward Xin Fu for his capture! 

Clearly, Xin Fu didn’t know that, and so Zuko elected to step in before the Avatar got shipped off to the Fire Nation. He reapplied his human guise and summoned his clothes onto his form from his pocket-space. No need to reveal himself as a spirit here unless things got really hairy. His swords and some subtle applications of Soul should be plenty to deal with these idiots. 

He summoned the Suneaters in their wood and Soul-silk sheath and strapped it around himself, as well as a small hidden bandolier of throwing knives. As much as he wanted to show off, he didn’t think revealing his powers would be a wise idea right now.

* * *

“Go, I'll be okay,” The Avatar tried to reassure his friends. 

“Toph, there's too many of them! We need an earthbender. We need you!” Katara pleaded.

“My daughter is blind! She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile. She cannot help you!”

Okay, seriously, did the man not hear how his daughter was screaming retribution not five minutes ago? She certainly didn’t seem fragile by any stretch of the imagination! 

Zuko had had enough of this nonsense and dropped the cloaking spell and walked into the arena out of the shadows.

“Tsk, tsk, Avatar. You getting little girls to come rescue you now? I thought we had something special!” Zuko taunted, “Seriously, I leave you alone for a day and you get yourself captured, again? For an airbender you sure seem to suck at escaping.”

“Zuko!” The Avatar yelled, surprised by his sudden entrance. He wasn’t the only one.

One of the wrestlers, named ‘The Boulder’ apparently, told him to get lost quite rudely.

Why was he referring to himself in third person? Wrestlers were strange folk. Zuko ignored the various expletives sent in his direction about who he was and what he was doing there.

“Now, seeing as how I have a vested interest in keeping the Avatar alive and out of the hands of the Fire Nation, we can do this one of two ways. The easy way is you let the Avatar go, and we all leave peacefully. The hard way is you attempt to pick a fight with me, I kick all of your asses, and everyone else leaves peacefully anyway,” Zuko said.

He felt the Nightmare Heart flare up alongside his excitement and he grinned widely, unaware that the momentary flare up caused his eyes to flash red and his fangs to show for a brief instant. 

He grinned wider, flexing his fingers like he would if he’d still had claws in anticipation. “Please, choose the hard way, I’ve been itching for an excuse to use my blades!”

The wrestlers seemed uncertain, but all charged at him, likely thinking they could overpower him with sheer numbers. Zuko smiled in satisfaction.

_ Finally, a decent challenge! _

Zuko pulled out one of the throwing knives Aza had gifted him after teaching him how to use them. He channeled a bit of Soul into it in a reinforcement spell and threw the knife through the air. 

It spun end over end, and the bespelled blade effortlessly sliced through the chain suspending the Avatar’s metal cage from the ceiling. Unnoticed by anyone was the knife vanishing mid-air to return back into its holster.

The Avatar’s cage crashed loudly to the floor, denting it. The Avatar’s friends all ran to his aid, with Sokka picking up a stray rock to bash the locking mechanism with.

He drew the Suneaters from their sheath and jumped forward towards the advancing mass of earthbenders. 

He refrained from using any Nail Arts, because those moves were devastating against opponents with tough chitin shells, and would absolutely cause Zuko to accidentally bisect an unarmored human, and these wrestlers seemed to have a vendetta against shirts, nevermind armor.

He leapt into the fray and roundhouse-kicked the one wearing a stupid-looking metal helmet, knocking him out cold. Zuko shouted across the arena at the girl, who appeared to be arguing with her father.

“Hey, Toph! What happened to all that fire from before? You gonna let me have all the fun, or are you gonna make good on your threats?”

“Hell yeah I am!” Toph shouted, “Save some heads for me to bash in!”

With that declaration, Toph ripped herself away from her parents and launched herself into the arena using earthbending.

It was a glorious, completely one-sided beat-down. Toph was an amazing earthbender, and Zuko was crazy fast, using a subtle application of Soul to boost his speed and reflexes. The adrenaline and excitement kept making his eyes light up and his teeth to sharpen noticeably, but he was having way too much fun to notice.

* * *

While Zuko himself didn’t notice, the anxious audience certainly did. Toph’s parents were both very traditional, and had been raised on stories of changelings and other such creatures. One of their biggest fears was Toph getting lost somewhere or being left alone for too long and getting tricked or lured away by a malicious spirit because she couldn’t see the danger.

They both noticed the boy’s inhuman features and became even more scared for their daughter.

* * *

Zuko was having the time of his life! Even though Toph was apparently blind, you almost couldn’t tell. She seemed to still know where everyone was, except for him, who she seemed to have a little trouble keeping track of. 

Her blindness just made her fighting skills all the more impressive in Zuko’s books. He was always impressed by people that never gave up, especially when they were at a disadvantage. 

He laughed in delight at how fun the fight was. It was chaotic and messy and confusing and beautiful! Toph had eventually created a massive dust cloud that didn’t hinder her or Zuko at all. He just activated his heat vision and kept track of everyone just fine. He and Toph made an amazing team, and unfortunately, the fight was over way too quickly for his liking.

* * *

Toph was about ready to scream after her father declared her blind and helpless for the millionth time, and there was this really weird set of vibrations that she kept noticing and then forgetting about, only to notice them again right after! Seriously, what the fuck was that?

Then something happened and the vibrations stopped disappearing and a new, raspy, dangerous-sounding voice started talking. 

The Boulder and everyone freaked out; apparently the newcomer had appeared out of nowhere, and none of them had noticed.

Sweet spirits, most people seemed to be even blinder than her sometimes!

His vibrations were super off too. His heartbeat was stupid loud, and his body felt wrong. Like, really wrong. All fuzzy and indistinct, like she was seeing him through sand instead of solid earth.

Twinkletoes referred to the stranger as ‘Zuko’, which was the most Fire Nation sounding name she’d ever heard. Wasn’t that the name of their dead prince or something? Bad luck that they shared the same name.

Whatever, Zuko felt super off. According to her Seismic Sense, Zuko weighed way less than he should’ve for a person of his height and general body shape, and by the First Badgermole his heartbeat was so fucking loud! Why was no one else remarking on it? Surely they could hear it? Seriously, it sounded like a drum!

Then, Zuko had asked if she was gonna help him take on all the Earth Rumble losers. Finally, someone who wasn’t as blind as she was! He saw how tough she was! Now if only her parents could do the same.

She tore herself out of her father’s arms, who’d been trying to drag her away from all the action, and launched herself into the fray.

Zuko moved almost like Twinkletoes, in that he vanished from her senses for small stretches of time before reappearing, except he reappeared way faster than Twinkletoes did. His stupid heartbeat was so loud! Seriously, what the fuck was up with that?!

Whatever, they kicked serious ass together! Zuko was really fast, her Seismic Sense almost couldn’t keep up! His weird lightness and rapid movement made him easy to lose in all of the other much louder vibrations happening due to all the earthbending. 

The fight was great, but all good things came to an end, and they eventually ran out of idiots to hit, which was lame.

Twinkletoes had finally been freed from the stupid metal boxes they’d both been trapped in before, and his whole group came running up to where everyone else who wasn’t unconscious was standing around.

“Well, it’s been fun, Avatar, but I’ve got places to be, so I’ll be taking my leave. You’re welcome for the save, by the way. I think that brings the score up to three-nil in my favor, now.” Zuko said. His heartbeat had finally quieted down, but it was still the loudest one in the room.

“Wait, Zuko!” Twinkletoes yelled, “I have to give you something! It’s really important! A spirit called The White Lady gave it to me to give to your mother!”

“...What did you just say?” Uh oh, Zuko’s voice went really quiet, in the dangerous sort of way.

“I don’t have it with me right now, it’s back with all our stuff on Appa, but if you wait a little bit, I can go get it!”

“Shit, okay…” Zuko said, “Guess I’m sticking around for a bit, then.”

Footsteps toward them attracted Toph’s attention.

Her parents and her dumb teacher, Master Yu, were off to the side, and Yu was talking about how awesome she was. Finally, her talent was being recognized! Maybe now her parents would understand!

“Mom, Dad, I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way. But the obedient little helpless blind girl that you think I am just isn't me. I love fighting. I love being an earthbender, and I'm really, really good at it. I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me, but I'm twelve years old and I've never had a real friend. So, now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change the way you feel about me,” Toph said, trying to get her feelings across. She was terrible with feelings.

“Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph. It's made me realize something,” Her dad said. 

“It has?” Toph’s heart swelled with a careful hope. Was it finally happening? 

“Yes. I've let you have far too much freedom. From now on you'll be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day,” Toph’s careful hopes were ruthlessly crushed under her father’s suffocating hand.

“But, Dad!” 

“We're doing this for your own good, Toph,” Her mother said, only adding to her pain. 

“Come along, Toph, we’re going home. You are not to talk to the Avatar or his...friends again. They are clearly dangerous,” Her father said. Toph slowly walked over to him. What was she supposed to do now?

“Wow, and I thought Mother was overbearing sometimes,” Zuko said. He then seemed to address her parents. “You know, I actually snuck out tonight, I wasn’t even supposed to be out here, but Mother has been kind of smothering me lately. If they kept insisting I was helpless and tried to lock me up on the  _ Wani _ like that, I think I’d just run away,” Zuko said blandly.

A proverbial lightbulb lit up in Toph’s mind.

_ Now there’s an idea... _

“Our family is none of your concern, spirit!” Her father said. 

Wait what? The fuck was her Dad on about? Yeah, Zuko felt all weird to her, but that didn’t make him a spirit, did it?

But the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to make some amount of sense that Zuko felt all fucky to her Seismic Sense because he wasn’t human. Toph looked at him using her Seismic sense some more, but he still appeared all fuzzy and indistinct to her senses. Laaaaame…

“Whatever,” Zuko replied, sounding very much like a human teen. Maybe her dad was mistaken? Both her parents were kind of paranoid about spirits after all.

“Come along Toph, we’re going back home where it’s safe,” Her mom said.

“I'm sorry, Toph,” Aang said, sounding genuinely sorry. 

“I'm sorry too. Goodbye, Aang,” She said. 

_ Though not for long, not if I have anything to say about it! _

* * *

Zuko followed the Avatar and friends back to the giant bison. The Avatar jumped up into the saddle and dug around in his pack before he returned with a small stone tablet. 

The Avatar passed it over into Zuko’s waiting hands, and Zuko could feel the Soul pouring off the thing. It was clearly a long message. Zuko tucked it away into his fluff to send it to his pocket-space for safekeeping. 

He’d released his hold on his disguise after he was away from everyone else besides the Avatar’s group. No need to try hiding from them when they already knew the secret, and the disguise was exhausting to keep up for too long. 

He turned to leave, but saw Toph running up the hill. He blinked but didn’t reapply the disguise. She was blind after all, not like she could possibly know what he looked like.

“Toph! What are you doing here?” The Avatar said in surprise.

“My dad changed his mind. He said I was free to travel the world, so I’m coming with you!” Toph declared.

Zuko couldn’t contain a snort of laughter, along with a snort of fire. Toph was surely lying, but he didn’t blame her for running away. The Avatar’s group gave each other uncertain looks, but also went along with it.

“Well, we'd better get out of here, before your dad changes his mind again,” Sokka said.

“Good idea,” Toph replied. 

“You're going to be a great teacher, Toph,” The Avatar said encouragingly. 

“Speaking of which, I want to show you something,” Toph said. Zuko smirked as he detected incoming mischief. 

“Okay,” The Avatar said, like the gullible fool he was. Sure enough, as soon as the boy touched down, Toph launched him into the air to land harshly in a tree with a rock pillar.

“Now we're even. I'll take my belt back now,” She said smugly, holding her arm up to receive the belt.

Sokka unthinkingly tossed the belt down to her, smacking her in the head with it when she obviously failed to see the flying object coming.

“Ow!”

“Sorry,” Sokka said, not sounding very sorry at all.

“You are all idiots. Thanks for the tablet, but I’ll be going now,” Zuko said, unhooking his wings and spreading them, accidentally creating a fair bit of noise.

“Wait, what’s that sound? And what’s up with you? I know it’s you ‘cause your voice is the same, and I never forget a voice, but your body shape is all wrong now, and your heartbeat is stupid loud. Dad told me to run away if I ever knew you were near me, for some dumb reason, not that I’m going to listen to him. We kicked ass together, and that makes you okay in my books,” Toph said bluntly.

“Yeah, actually, what  _ is  _ up with that? You look different from how you used to, still a freaky bug monster, but now you’ve got wolf-bat wings,” Sokka asked.

Zuko sighed and folded his wings behind him, but didn’t return them to their usual cloak form.

“Wait, what? Freaky bug monster?” Toph said. She stomped hard on the ground and ‘looked’ very intently in his direction. “Oh, wow, that’s really strange. Have you got four arms? Your shape was fuzzy back in the arena, but still felt like a person, but now you feel totally different! Can someone please explain to the blind girl what the fuck I’m supposed to be looking at here?”

Zuko facepalmed and rubbed a hand over his face and horns before sighing tiredly, “Long story short, my parents sucked way harder than even yours do, and I got adopted by a spirit. I don’t look human in the least anymore unless I want to, and I do actually have four arms most of the time. I shapeshifted into what I used to look like as a human back at the arena because I’ve got business to take care of in town and didn’t want to blow my cover.”

“Woah, so you’re a changeling?! A real one? Are there more of you?” Toph asked excitedly. Spirits and changelings were taboo topics back home, so of course Toph did everything in her power to learn as much about them as possible to spite her parents.

“I’m the only one like me as far as I’m aware. I suppose you could’ve called me a changeling a few months ago, but fucking dying and coming back as the Nightmare King tends to come with some consequences,” Zuko said blandly.

“Wait, what, you died? Also, Nightmare King sounds fucking badass!” Toph said.

“Yeah. That’s a whole different story, but to sum it up, I got mind controlled by this absolute prick called Zhao, who tried to force me to kill the moon spirit, but I was able to twist my orders a bit at the last second and I killed myself instead. The moon spirit was more important to the safety and wellbeing of the world than myself, so I made the sacrifice play,” He explained, giving the Avatar a pointed look before continuing.

“While I was being controlled, I attuned much more strongly to a powerful magical force I already had a connection with called the Nightmare Heart. I inadvertently restored its full powers by connecting it back with the Dream Realm, which most people know as the Spirit World. When I died, the Nightmare Heart brought me back as an egg, and I was reborn as the Nightmare King. Growing up again so fast sucked major ass, by the way,” Zuko said.

“My new appearance is due to my rebirth as a fully-fledged Higher Being. The wings were the most major change, but my horns changed too, as you can see...err,” He trailed off awkwardly while looking at Toph.

“Nah, it’s cool. Your life sounds totally crazy, by the way. What happened to that Zhao guy? Was he another spirit?” Toph asked, eager for more details.

“No, he was just a regular human who somehow got access to a bunch of forbidden magical knowledge that he used to control me. He’s dead now. Mother was frantic after I got kidnapped, and then they had the misfortune of getting to me just in time for me to die in their arms. The rebirth process wasn’t instantaneous and Mother thought I was dead for good, so they ripped Zhao’s soul out of his chest and ate it as revenge,” Zuko explained calmly.

“Holy fuck, that sounds hardcore! Seems like that Zhao guy deserved it though,” Toph said. 

The Avatar opened his mouth, most likely to say something in the defense of pacifism again, but Zuko was having none of that crap. Zhao was a cruel douche who got what was coming to him. 

Zuko didn’t even bother glaring at the monk, feeling that his tone was enough to convey the intended emotions.

“Avatar, if the next words out of your mouth are to defend Zhao or condemn Mother’s actions again, I will throttle you and hope that your next incarnation is less of a self-righteous pain in the ass!” Zuko hissed.

Toph burst out laughing at that.

“Oooohh, I’d listen to him if I were you, Twinkletoes!” She cackled, turning back to Zuko, “I like you! It’s always awesome to meet someone who isn’t afraid to bash some heads in to get their point across!”

The Avatar looked upset but closed his mouth, clearly seeing that he wouldn’t win that argument. Toph quickly calmed down again and planted her hands on her hips.

“So, you’ve got wings and horns, and according to boomerang boy over there, look like a ‘freaky bug monster’?” Toph asked, stomping her foot on the ground again, before growling in frustration, “I still can’t get a good sense of what you look like! Help me out here, would you?” Toph said frustratedly.

“Uh, how exactly? I could describe myself more, but I doubt more descriptors would make things any clearer for you.”

“Let me feel your face with my hands. It’s how I normally get a detailed sense of what people look like, but it’s fine if you don’t wanna. Most people don’t like other peoples’ fingers all up in their face,” Toph said, sounding surprisingly gentle.

Zuko was taken aback a bit, but mostly because aside from Mother, and occasionally Uncle, people didn’t tend to get in his personal space a lot anymore. Understandable of course, Zuko was quite a bit spikier now, and had even more pointy bits and angles for people to accidentally stab themselves on. 

“Um, it’s fine, I don’t mind. Just be careful, I’m a lot more pointy than the average person, and don’t pull on anything,” Zuko said.

“I wouldn’t do that!” Toph said indignantly.

“Just making sure.”

Zuko crouched down so that his face was level with hers and gently grabbed her hand and guided it to his face.

Toph said nothing but began to carefully explore the planes of his face. He stuck a chelicera out and gently hooked it around one of her wandering digits when they came close enough.

“What’s that?” Toph said, bringing her other hand up to feel where it connected to the side of his mouth.

“It’s one of my chelicerae. My face isn’t as mobile as a human’s anymore, so I use them to express emotions instead.”

“Oh, cool.”

Toph continued her careful explorations of his face. Her surprisingly calloused fingers were gentle, and Zuko closed his eyes when she carefully traced the black-stained grooves around them.

“Wow, your eyes are big. They any better at seeing than normal eyes?” She asked.

“So much better. I can see the individual leaves off of trees from a couple of miles away. Helps out a lot when I’m flying and hunting. They can even see heat when I want them to. It’s hard to describe, but I can see a bunch of new colors that humans can’t when I do that.”

“Well, any human can see more colors than I can, so don’t expect that to impress me,” She said, deadpan. Zuko chuckled. It was nice to see that she wasn’t letting her blindness keep her down for even a second.

Her hands reached up and found his crown-horns, and then accidentally dipped into the red floating fireball that represented the Nightmare Heart just behind them.

“Woah, what’s that? It’s warm!”

“It’s a physical representation of my status as the Nightmare King. It’s a little red fireball made of Nightmare Flame, it’s sort of like a crown, I guess. It’s not like normal fire, it doesn’t burn anything or get much hotter than that unless I will it to.”

Toph hummed in acknowledgement and curiously stuck her fingers into it again before moving on. She traced his sweeping horns and he shivered at the feeling. 

It didn’t hurt, but horns were sort of like ears in that they sensed vibrations, so having someone other than him touch them felt strange. Toph noticed of course, and removed her hands quickly, though they hovered in the air still, like she wasn’t sure what to do with them.

“I didn’t hurt you did I?” She asked with mild concern.

“No, it just felt funny. My horns sort of work like ears and a nose at the same time, they’re how I hear and smell things, like antennae on a normal bug, except they aren’t nearly so delicate.”

Zuko stood back up, and Toph’s hovering hands brushed through his fluff on accident.

“Oh! What was that? Do you have fur too?”

“Yeah, I get that from Mother. It works as a way for me to access my personal pocket-space. I normally keep my swords and lots of other useful things in there. It’s like having a near-endless, weightless bag on me at all times.”

“Woah, that sounds really useful!”

“It is.” He rustled his wings slightly. He needed to get going before Mother found out he was gone or they’d flip out.

“Was that your wings? Can I feel them? They sound like they're made of fabric or leather.”

“No, they’re a part of me, but I guess they’re not too far off from leather. I guess you can feel them too, but I’ve got to get going soon.”

Zuko brought one of his wings around and gently grasped her tiny hand in his own clawed one and guided it to the edge of his wing. 

Again, she was very gentle, pressing the tough pads of her fingers against the relatively thin membranes. She gently pinched the edge of his wing, feeling the strange, boneless muscle along the leading edge, before her curious fingers reached the claws that existed on the leading edge about halfway down their length. They involuntarily twitched a bit at the contact.

“Careful, my wing-claws are sharp,” Zuko cautioned.

Zuko’s wings actually had no bones except for in his claws, but small bunches of muscle ran through them, parallel all along the wings, ending with larger ones on the leading edge.

This gave them unparalleled flexibility, and made them much more resistant to damage because there were no delicate bones he had to watch out for.

Toph poked at his wing-claws carefully before she removed her hand and Zuko returned the wing to join its twin behind him.

“Huh, it kinda feels like soft leather, but really, really warm leather. You’re not running a fever are you?” Toph asked.

“No, I just run a lot hotter than humans do. Comes with the territory. The Nightmare King has dominion over both nightmares and fire.”

“You’re a firebender?” Toph asked curiously.

“Not anymore. Controlling fire is even easier than breathing, now. Nothing like bending at all.”

“Oh,” She said, with an indecipherable look on her face.

“I really do need to get going though. Good luck traveling with that bunch of accident-prone idiots, and for the love of Void, at least  _ try _ to avoid getting captured again!” Zuko said, before he took a couple steps back and spread his wings.

He kicked off the ground and flapped his wings and sped away, wondering how he was going to explain the tablet’s existence to Mother without revealing that he’d snuck out.

Zuko sighed. He was totally going to get grounded, wasn’t he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi i also suffer from agoraphobia, but not nearly as bad as the twins do lol. i just hate going outside b/c the sky is too fucking big and there's bugs outside. i also suffer from pretty bad entomophobia, but especially bees and wasps and such, so despite my bitching about the weather, winter is actually my favorite season, because when its overcast and theres snow on the ground, it means i can go outside without too much fear! all the bugs are dead :D and the sky doesnt look quite as big. i also just do better in the cold b/c i fucking sweat like a pig and thats so gross, i hate being sweaty so much guys ugh. 
> 
> hallownest bugs dont bother me b/c they dont really register as bugs to my brain. they just all round and have cute horns :3
> 
> anyway, more spoopy zuko, and a nice little fluffy bit with toph finding out what he looks like! toph isnt really bothered by the whole spirit thing b/c she's into that shit b/c her parents hate that shit, lol, spite is a powerful force ;)
> 
> zuko's had it up to here with aang's pacifism, because it directly clashes with his new nature as a chaos god and also b/c zuko likes fighting. toph also likes chaos and fighting, so they gonna be besties one day, i promise! 
> 
> also zuko's wings dont have bones b/c i looked at clips of grimmchild flying in game, and they arent shaped like they have bones, and grimm seems to treat his more like a cloak or loose floppy fabric, so thats my explanation
> 
> Mrs. ping is a blessing unto this world, guys, i had so much fun writing her. i almost picture her like edna mode from the incredibles movie, only with a bit more height and chill
> 
> she takes no shit and no prisoners guys, and if she wants something she's gonna find a way to get it. she's an honest woman with a passion for theater and she is living for this new magic tech that zuko has that will make her plays amazing. she's paying a fair price for them and isnt rude, so in her mind the maybe-changelings/spirits have no reason to want to make her life worse, so she's just rolling with it.
> 
> chan will become slightly more relevant in the next chapter ;)


	38. There's No Business Like Show Business!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lotta different things happening this chapter, so enjoy that! previous events are being tied together and things are moving now. the past comes back to bite people in different ways, but not all of them are bad. enjoy :)

Zuko was indeed, totally grounded. Mother had flipped when they found out he’d snuck off without telling them, and he’d had to endure them holding him for at least an hour, probably more, and then they’d insisted on squeezing themselves into his room to make sure he didn’t run off again.

Mother had understood his want for some alone time, but had told him that he at least needed to let them know he was going out and when he thought he’d be home by, so that they could tear apart the surrounding area looking for him if he missed the window.

Mother had also placed a tracking spell on him, just in case, and promised that they wouldn’t infringe on his privacy unless it was an emergency. Zuko begrudgingly allowed it, and actually almost forgot to tell Mother about the tablet the Avatar had given him.

They went very quiet and still, and had taken the tablet from him and retreated to the cargo hold to listen to it in private. When Zuko went to check on them two hours later, he’d found them staring blankly at a wall, lost in thought.

Apparently The White Lady was alive and wanted to make amends for past wrongs. Mother was conflicted horribly. Zuko had told them that it was their decision, and that they didn’t owe The White Lady anything.

After much thought Mother had decided that they would stay in Gaoling until the first showing of their play, and then turn around and head to the Foggy Swamp to go talk with their own estranged mother.

Zuko was interested in meeting Mother’s parents, or at least the one that didn’t seem like a total douchebag, anyway. Apparently The White Lady had sounded genuinely apologetic and had also apologized for the way they had spoken to Mother, the one time they actually talked face to face. 

The White Lady had said that she thought that Mother would have just died as well, and couldn’t bear getting attached only to lose another child. She claimed that it was not to excuse her behavior, but merely explain it. She begged forgiveness, but understood if Mother didn’t want anything to do with her.

The tablet had also contained a recording of a lullaby The White Lady had created back when she tried to be a mother to Hollow, before the Pale King forbade it, not wanting her emotions to ‘taint’ the Pure Vessel. That had apparently been the final straw for her, since she claimed to have left the White Palace entirely after that fight.

Zuko often found Mother curled around the tablet listening to that little haunting tune for hours as they tried and failed to sleep.

They stayed in Gaoling for a couple of weeks, helping with the development of the play, and the actors tirelessly practiced their lines and dances and singing. Zuko’s disguise had nearly slipped multiple times as he got increasingly distracted and got caught in awkward conversations he barely managed to wiggle out of without his cover being blown.

The whole crew had pitched in to help make props and costumes, and were rewarded with front row tickets to the first performance. Mrs. Ping had started a ruthless advertisement campaign and the turnout for the first showing was quite good.

Zuko had accidentally revealed some of his magical skills, and Mrs. Ping had roped him into being in charge of special effects. The other employees were still a bit wary of his powers, but Zuko had been nothing but a sweet, awkward teenage boy who had a clear love for theater, and hadn’t harmed a hair on anyone’s heads the entire time.

They pretty much figured that if he was spirit-cursed or secretly a changeling or something, that he wouldn’t hurt anyone on purpose. Mrs. Ping made sure everyone was at least polite to each other, even if they otherwise didn’t get along super great.

No one wanted to deal with an angry Mrs. Ping. She was terrifying when she got riled. Zuko often brought baked goods with him to rehearsals that Mother had made for him to take, a thing that endeared him to most of the actors.

Many of them expressed an interest in meeting Zuko’s mysterious ‘Mother’, but Zuko had so far dissuaded anyone by claiming that Mother’s health was fragile and that ‘she’ couldn’t risk meeting new people in fear of illness.

* * *

It was finally opening night, and Zuko was a jittery mess. Mother sent him calming thoughts over the bond, but that only helped so much. His disguise was slipping a little, he was sure of it. His teeth felt slightly too sharp and he was fairly certain his eyes were flashing red when the light hit them just right.

He practiced his meditative breathing, which helped him get a grip on himself. Mother was hiding in the shadows of the theater somewhere, probably in the audience. 

_ It was showtime. _

* * *

The audience had looked startled when the first notes of the opening song began to play, looking around for the band, but obviously finding none. Various speakers were hidden in strategic locations around the theater, and with its fantastic acoustics, the sound seemed to come from everywhere.

The audience seemed captivated by the dancing and thrilled by the action and fight sequences, and they laughed at Mushu’s funny lines and Mulan’s attempts to fit in with the men.

Zuko provided effects like fog and the fireworks, among many other things, over the course of the performance, and when the curtains closed, they received massive applause and standing ovations from many members of the audience.

Zuko swelled with pride. They’d done it, all of them! The play was a huge success! The actors all took a bow and retreated behind the stage. Mrs. Ping was over the moon, and was already trying to commission more speakers and recordings of the songs so that she could send them to all the other theaters she owned.

Zuko and Mother had experimented and had managed to create ‘effect stones’ that replicated the effects of certain harmless magical spells, so that the other theaters could have performances that were just as stunning.

Overall, the  _ Wani _ crew made off like bandits when they finally left Gaoling, the ship’s coffers fuller than they’d ever been. Mrs. Ping had begged him for at least a pen name so that Zuko and Mother could receive proper credit and commissions from copyrighting the script.

* * *

“We need to put  _ someone’s _ name down as the author of the script for copyright purposes! And because you’re not my employee and I didn’t actually commission this script to be written, we need to come up with a company name for your little troupe! See, my productions are all published under my company,  _ Ping Productions _ , and since you all helped make this play possible, you all need to get some of the credit! So, first billing goes to your new company, I’ve got all the legal paperwork right here, you all just need to sign and come up with a name, and I’ll get all this filed with the Earth Kingdom Commission of Art and Literature, so everything’s all official!”

“Wow, Mrs. Ping, you didn’t have to do all this!” Zuko said, amazed and touched by the gesture.

“Nonsense, boy! If you can come up with more gold like ‘Mulan,’ I’ll die a happy woman. I put on the show despite its controversial messages because my father was a soldier who fought proudly for his nation, and when I was a child, I wanted to do the same damn thing! 

Except I wasn’t allowed to learn how to fight and was expected to marry well and have kids and that was it. I eventually got lucky and married a wonderful man who let me do as I pleased, but I was too old by then to chase my first dream, so I took on his instead.

We were married for fifteen wonderful years before a blight stole him away from me. Your play reignited the embers of that old dream I had when I was a little girl, and I thank you for that. 

If I can’t fight on the battlefield with a sword, then I’ll fight on the theater stage with a pen! Let the naysayers come and bray like the asses they are, but if this play inspires even one little girl to fight for what she wants in life, I’ll consider it a win!

Now, are we signing some paperwork or not?!”

* * *

They did indeed sign some paperwork. Zuko hemmed and hawed, but eventually decided on the pen name of Scarlet Spirit. Chan had looked startled when Zuko announced that, and made himself scarce, interestingly enough.

Zuko debated with the crew and Mother on what to call their new theater company. Zuko had carefully suggested the name ‘Grimm Troupe’ but Mother had actually shot him down, saying that he wasn’t beholden to follow in Grimm or Agni’s footsteps, and that he was free to be his own person.

Something in Zuko relaxed at that, but that still left the issue of the name.

Eventually, they all agreed to call it ‘Forgotten Kingdoms Productions’, and Mother had offered up the same design Zuko remembered seeing on the door to the Abyss as a logo. 

The four-pointed tree/crown looking symbol Mother whispered to him was actually called the King’s Brand, a magical symbol of great power that Mother had claimed as their birthright after the Pale King abandoned the dying kingdom.

Mrs. Ping had looked intrigued but had asked no further questions. The only issue now was how the group was going to collect the payments, seeing as how they were nomadic and didn’t have a set base of operations.

The twins had, once again, come up with a magical solution to the mundane problem. Mother immediately named them ‘Vanishing Cabinets’ upon seeing what they did and everyone just went with it, now used to their strange naming conventions and refusal to budge on them.

The Vanishing Cabinets were a set of two boxes with a small lever on the side. Whatever was placed into one would appear in the other after the lever was pulled. Mrs. Ping was once again amazed and impressed. 

She agreed to send them all their earnings quarterly, and suggested a system of order forms so that she could easily request and purchase more speakers, recordings, and effect stones for any future plays.

Mother had pitched the idea of written adaptations meant for reading to Mrs. Ping using Zuko as a proxy. Mrs. Ping had thought it was a great idea, and promised to be their go-between for publishings. 

_ Ping Productions _ would handle the production and distribution of the texts and plays, while  _ Forgotten Kingdoms  _ would provide the new scripts for plays and manuscripts for the novels, as well as any effect stones and recordings. They’d split the profits 40/60 in Mrs. Ping’s favor, since  _ Ping Productions _ would be doing more of the work overall, which Zuko thought was perfectly fair.

* * *

The entire crew left the theater very satisfied at the lucrative deal they’d made. Mother already had many more ideas for books and plays and was so proud of Zuko for how well he’d done negotiating the deal.

The crew was on their way out the door when they were stopped by the broad form of Chan, who looked apprehensive and oddly hopeful, clutching a small letter in his hand.

“I’m sorry for stopping you, but I just had to know...are you really the Scarlet Spirit? I’ve seen your eyes flash and your shadow move sometimes, and it sort of matched my sister’s description. Please, I won’t tell anyone either way, but please...tell me the truth,” Chan pleaded.

Zuko as well as the crew were taken aback by the tone and sincerity of the request.

“I am. I can shapeshift into my old human form, and Mother is the Black Spirit, and they’ve hidden in my shadow to come along with me to places. They can’t shapeshift like I can, so they have to hide,” Zuko explained warily.

Chan’s eyes suddenly filled with tears and he gathered Zuko into an unexpected hug, blubbering with gratitude.

“Your mother saved my sister’s life! Thank you!” Chan suddenly let go of Zuko and tried to compose himself, “She lives in Senlin Village you know, and she was grievously injured when Hei-Bai attacked. 

She would have died if the Black Spirit hadn’t healed her. She didn’t even know she was pregnant at the time, but your mother’s healing saved both her and my unborn niece! I can never thank either of you enough!” Chan said, voice thick with emotion.

**_“You're very welcome. I’m glad she and the baby are alright,”_ ** Mother’s voice rang out from the shadows. 

Chan whipped around, and there Mother stood, in all their glory.

“You look just like the picture she drew of you,” Chan breathed. He bent neatly at the waist in a very formal and polite bow, “Thank you so much!” He stood back up, “I know it’s not much, but I want you to have this,” Chan reached into his bag and dropped a large, beautifully carved piece of polished black granite into Mother’s hand. 

“I’m no bender, but I like to carve stone in my spare time,” He explained.

It was a little statuette of Zuko’s old masked, cloaked form standing tall and proud, with Mother in their Shade Lord form looming up behind him. They both seemed to convey the feeling of safety and protection.

**_“This is wonderful! Thank you, I shall treasure this greatly,”_ ** Mother said.

“No, thank you. May your journeys be easy and your life prosperous,” Chan said in a traditional Earth Kingdom blessing. He bowed one more time before departing.

Mother stared at the statuette for a moment longer before tucking it away in their pocket space and returning to Zuko’s shadow. The crew all gave each other looks before they began walking back to the  _ Wani _ .

It had been a long night.

* * *

After departing from Gaoling finally, the _Wani_ made an about-face, and sailed off towards the Foggy Swamp. Mother was a nervous mess and Zuko did his best to comfort them.

Mother insisted on Zuko staying behind at first, just in case things went sour, since they didn’t want Zuko to have to witness a family spat. If things went well, then Zuko could come down and meet his technically-grandmother.

Zuko didn’t protest at all, since he could see how this whole thing was tearing Mother up inside. They had very conflicting feelings about The White Lady, but if she really was sincere and wanted to make amends, then Mother felt like they should at least give her a chance.

* * *

The tablet described in detail how to find her rooted form, so the Wani hovered invisibly next to the massive tree at the exact center of the swamp. The Foggy Swamp was unusually circular, which only added to its oddness, but it made much more sense if you knew that it was all one massive organism.

Ghost spread their wings and flew down towards the base of the tree. A nearly-naked man was startled by their airborne approach, but didn’t make any hostile moves towards them.

Ghost ignored him and approached the tree. They let off a burst of Soul to let The White Lady know they were there. A hole in the roots opened up into a small tunnel. They had to duck slightly to avoid scraping their horns on the ceiling and began making their way down.

They entered into the larger chamber containing their mother’s true form. She’d grown larger since Ghost had seen them last, and their root-crown was even larger than they remembered it being.

“Oh Child, is that you? Please, come closer, my eyes are nearly useless now, but I wish to know your face. I have wronged you greatly and such knowledge has torn at me every day since. I’m so sorry, my child, you deserved so much better…” The White Lady said softly, tears in her eyes.

Ghost warily walked closer to her, and previously unseen arms came away from her sides, reaching out towards them. Ghost reached out an arm in turn, and their mother pulled them into a gentle embrace. Tears of Void gathered in their eyes and they wept.

Their mother stroked their face and soothed them, apologizing all the while for how she had treated them. They were both crying now. Ghost curled harder into the hug and clutched at her relatively soft form.

_**“Mama…”**_ They began, wobbly.

“Yes, my child?”

_**“My name is Ghost, it’s nice to meet you,”**_ They said.

“Oh Ghost, it’s nice to meet you too, little one. I’m sorry I wasn’t a better mother,” She said.

_**“...Did you know? About the Pale King’s plans? What he did to me? To all of us?”**_ They asked. They had to know.

“No. I foolishly trusted my husband’s judgement and provided him with my seeds. They were inert and would need another’s essence to become another life. He assured me that he had created the Pure Vessel using pure Void and one of my inert seeds, and that the Pure Vessel was not alive. I only found out that he’d lied to me long after the fact.”

_**“Their name was Hollow, and they did have emotions.”** _

“Of course. I only thought my husband had created Hollow at first, and I didn’t believe that they’d had emotions either, but I was determined to be a mother to them, even though I thought they would never return my affections. My husband forbade it and sealed the nursery I had prepared for them, saying that Hollow could not be tainted by such sentiment.

I was upset greatly, but did nothing. The Infection was growing stronger and my husband was adamant that the Vessel plan would work. It was a desperate time, so I held my tongue.

When I went to find him one day, I found him asleep in his workshop, and some of his notes were scattered around. I didn’t mean to snoop, but I wanted to know what went into Hollow’s creation. My husband’s workshop was his sanctuary, and he usually did not even allow me entrance, but I’d needed to talk to him about something important. I don’t even recall what it was. 

I found his notes on what he called the ‘Vessel Project’ and it meticulously detailed the exact process he used to create not only Hollow but thousands of other ‘failures’. I read through all his notes, and were I physically capable of it, I’d have thrown up. 

Hollow was indeed our child, and my husband had sired thousands of children using my seeds, only to violate their eggs with Lifeblood and toss them into the Void. They all hatched. All of them. Thousands of hatchlings and not a single stillborn among them.

I read on, horrified, of how he made our newborn children make a perilous climb almost as soon as they were out of the shell, only to ‘dispose’ of them if they were not ‘pure’ of thought or emotion.

Ten thousand children, and only one made the cut. I slapped him awake and screamed at him for committing such an atrocity, all with my ignorant help. Nothing in his notes indicated that Hollow was truly alive or capable of higher thought, and so I left the palace and hid in my gardens, disgusted with him, but mostly myself, for allowing such a thing to happen under my nose.

Then, I come to find out that Hollow was not pure and the plan didn’t even work. All my children were dead, for nothing. The Infection ravaged the Kingdom, and I could do nothing. My child was presumably still alive and probably suffering greatly, but they were sealed in the temple, and I had long since rooted myself. I felt there was nothing I could do, and so I fell into despair.

Then, you came along, with a child of your very own in tow. I had no idea what to think, but I had been drowning in my grief for too long to truly realize what that meant. I thought only of how you would inevitably perish or suffer like all my other children, and I could not bear to look at you and risk getting attached. 

I said whatever drivel I could think of to get you to leave, but after you did, I realized what a fool I’d been. I cursed myself for my unthinking cruelty, but then the Infection died. I assumed it had been contained, since I was not aware of any other potential solutions, and despaired again, for I thought you had taken my advice and contained the Infection yourself.

When no one came to see me after for many years, I assumed everyone had perished or abandoned Hallownest, so I began uprooting myself. When I had done so, I traveled far away. I went into the wastes, hoping the scathing winds would steal my memories away as they had done for everyone else, but my status as a Higher being protected me.

I traveled as far away as I could, and when I had found a peaceful valley, I decided that I would root myself for the final time and do my best to fade away, even though I knew such a thing wasn’t possible for me. I was not born of belief or worship, but from the union of two other forces.

I do not know who or what they were, for my seed flew in the breeze for many hundreds of miles before I was able to take root for the first time and grow. Wyrm first encountered me on the same soil that would become Hallownest. I found him charming and we eventually wed and ruled the budding Kingdom together.

In my final resting place, I spread my roots wide and fell into what I’d hoped to be my final slumber, but such a thing was not to be. Strange forces moving in the world awoke me for the first time in an age, and new creatures that were not bugs or beasts or gods had made their home in my flourishing roots.

I grew to care for them like children and talked to them frequently, but was horrified to discover that they were easily influenced by my mental presence. Some turned into living, moving trees themselves, and others simply perished.

I withdrew from them swiftly after that, but they continued to worship me, for reasons I will never understand. Those that had turned into living plants patrolled the edge of my roots and attacked any outsiders. When outsiders stopped coming, they too, rooted themselves and slept. There are still a few near my borders even today. I know not if they will ever awaken.

But that concludes my sad tale. No, my child, I did not know of Wyrm’s plans, but I never would have allowed such a thing to occur if I had known that was what he was going to do.

Some months ago I felt the Nightmare Heart awaken and choose another Nightmare King, but I could tell it was not Agni, your first child. He has only contacted me once since you came to me all those ages ago, and it was simply a message letting me know that he was still alive and had become the ruler of a new domain, and that the Nightmare Heart was going dormant. 

The Avatar came by recently and I saw in his memories what occurred at the North Pole, and I finally knew how the Infection had died and stayed gone once I saw you become the Shade Lord in your grief. I am so glad your child survived, and I knew I had to talk to you to right past wrongs.

I drew the Avatar in using my mental influence and gave him that message to deliver to you. But enough about me, I want to know my child, now that I finally have the opportunity to do so. I want to tell you how much I love you, and I want to hold you and get to know my grandson,” The White Lady concluded.

Ghost took all of that information in, and a tight knot of resentment and repressed emotions dissolved away. They hugged their mother and told them all about their adventures and their adopted son.

They left briefly to go get him, and Zuko finally got to meet his grandmother.

* * *

The White Lady had been delighted to meet him and had cooed over how handsome he was and how he’d restored the Nightmare Heart all by himself, and she insisted that Zuko call her Grandmother, which Zuko agreed to easily. She had also expressed relief that he was okay and had escaped captivity at the hands of Zhao.

While also preferring peace, The White Lady was not an ignorant child like the Avatar and knew that sometimes, violence  _ was _ the answer, and in some cases even justified. She lamented not doing more to the Pale King than just some smacking and screaming at him when she had the chance, but Mother had told her that he had somehow perished after dragging the White Palace into the Dream Realm.

Once the White Lady had learned the cause behind the Infection, she hypothesized that the Old Light must have found him essentially hiding under her nose in her own Realm and killed him for his hubris.

They all spent hours talking together, and after hearing The White Lady’s regrets about how she could not talk with her worshipers without endangering them, they all put their heads together to come up with a solution.

It was actually Zuko who suggested a set of recorders and speakers so that she could talk to them much more directly. She could see everything in the swamp, because she basically was the swamp, but had no way to communicate directly with the swampbenders besides exerting her influence, which was not an option for obvious reasons.

Mother had carved the necessary Soul-runes into the stone walls of chamber The White Lady’s body resided in, and she had told them where to find the village where the swampbenders lived so they could set up its counterpart in the village.

* * *

Uncle and the crew had been happy for them that everything had gone well, and set off to find the village. 

They located it not too long after, and suggested that Mother and Zuko go in first, since the swampbenders were not likely to attack either of them.

* * *

The tribe stood around nervously looking at the two inhuman strangers, wondering what two spirits were doing in the village, and if it had anything to do with their goddess. The taller of the two had a face that looked remarkably like Hers.

_**“Hello, we mean you no harm. My mother, your goddess The White Lady, sends her warmest regards, and we’ve come with a device that will let her talk to you much more easily,”**_ The taller spirit said in an ethereal voice.

“Whadda’ ya’ mean? Yer our Lady’s kin?” Due asked with wonder.

_**“Yes. I am her only remaining child. My name Ghost, and this is my son Dear Heart. I have reunited with my mother, who I only recently learned was alive, and heard of her dismay that she cannot communicate with you without risking your lives,”**_ The White Lady’s child said.

All Due’s kin gathered around in excitement. To finally be able to talk directly with their Lady without risking The Change!

“Well, shoot, I’d never thought I’d see tha’ day! C’mon everyone, this calls fer a celebration!” Due shouted out happily, “Tho, why don’ ya show em’ to the shrine? I gotta go gather up some grub fer the party!”

Tho came running up to the pair excitedly before gesturing them to follow. 

* * *

Zuko and Mother were led to a large shrine near the back of the village, secluded in a small cave that was hidden with a curtain of vines. The shrine area was gorgeous, with a small waterfall cascading behind it and clumps of bioluminescent moss providing some light.

There was a large statue of The White Lady, carved very delicately from wood and painted a stark white, with light blue eyes. Various offerings lay neatly about the base of the statue, along with many flourishing potted plants.

Mother walked up and retrieved the carved stone tablet from their fluff, and they delicately shifted some other offerings and plants out of the way to make room for it at the center of the base of the statue.

The swampbender, Tho, whistled when they saw Mother retrieve the tablet, likely impressed at the sight of the small bit of magic.

Mother channeled some Soul into the tablet to activate it, _**“There, mother, can you hear me?”**_

“Oh yes dear, loud and clear!”

Tho gasped in wonder upon hearing Grandmother’s soft, musical voice.

“Oh? Tho dear, is that you?”

“She knows ma’ name!” Tho said, looking like he was about to pass out.

“Of course I know your name, dear, I make it a point to know all of my follower’s names. You have all dedicated yourselves to me, it’s the least I can do,” She said kindly.

“Wait till I tell the others! This is the greatest day o’ ma life!” Tho said, looking close to tears.

* * *

The entire crew of the _Wani_ eventually made their way into the village, and they were welcomed with open arms. 

The swampbenders threw a massive party with food and strange music, and even stranger dancing. Aside from getting almost eaten alive by mosquito-flies, everyone had an awesome time.

Eating bugs for dinner was interesting, but the crew all gave it go, and Zuko enjoyed eating the bugs raw and occasionally still squirming, probably having to do with his predatory nature, and Mother looked incredibly nostalgic. 

Non-sentient bugs were eaten in Hallownest by all the predator species, and so it probably felt like a little slice of home for them.

The swampbenders looked impressed by everyone’s fortitude, remarking that they made much better guests than the last group of visitors, and they also had fun hosting a grub-eating contest, which Zuko won handily.

Everyone had a fantastic time, and they left with the declaration that they would always be welcome in the Foggy Swamp.

* * *

Back in the Fire Nation, the Fire Lord was reading over various reports his spies had given him, along with multiple testimonials from what was left of the Navy division that Zhao had used as an invasion force, as well as stories from some of the former crew of his worthless son’s old ship.

The reports sounded outlandish, but Ozai couldn’t deny the consistency or sheer number of the reports. He combed through them all and eventually came to a conclusion.

Zuko had found something in the basement of the basement of the Southern Air Temple, and it was an immensely powerful spirit creature that had slowly corrupted him before stealing him away. He’d then become a changeling, or some other similar monstrosity, and had then been stabbed defending the moon spirit. 

The other spirit creature had then become incredibly angry and had killed Zhao before absolutely decimating the invasion force, leaving only a select few sailors alive, for some reason.

He didn’t believe a word of the reports that said that the monster had eaten Zhao’s soul or that it had spared some people because it thought they were innocent. Those were clearly exaggerations or attempts from the sailors to justify their survival, in some weird form of survivor’s guilt.

Neither the spirit creature or his son, if he was still alive somehow, had been spotted since, though there were strange rumors coming out of the Gaoling area. He picked up the advertisement poster for the new play that had been causing a stir in the Earth Kingdom recently.

It expressed a positive message for women to be warriors, which was strange considering the Earth Kingdom’s rather strong and blatant sexism. Ozai had always thought that to be illogical. 

Why deny yourself the extra potential soldiers? While some women were spineless and pathetic like his cowardly wife, others like his daughter were fierce fighters, and definitely a boon to the war effort. Women could be just as useful as men, so why scorn the resource?

Whatever, such things didn’t matter, but there, near the bottom of the poster in small print, claimed that the script for the play had been written by the ‘Scarlet Spirit’ and the ‘Black Spirit’ which matched the reports he got from the Senlin Village incident.

The peasants had been saved from a rampaging forest spirit by a pair of creatures matching the descriptions of his mutated son and whatever abomination had kidnapped him. The peasants had apparently begun worshiping them as some kind of guardian spirit.  


The play came out long after the incident at the North Pole, which meant his son, if there was any of him left, was actually still alive, and still traveling with the shadow spirit.

He ordered the guards to fetch his daughter. He had a job for her.

* * *

“Rise, my daughter, I have an important task for you,” He commanded.

“I live to serve the Fire Lord,” She said.

“Your brother has abandoned his mission and been corrupted by the spirits. According to my spies, he has been twisted into a monster. It would be cruel to allow him to suffer any further, don’t you agree?” Ozai said, smirking cruelly. 

Azula’s place would finally be secured as his heir and remove the annoying loose end that was his worthless son in one fell swoop. He did so love it when things came together like this.

“Yes, father, I do think it would be. I shall grant him the mercy of a quick death and free him from the spirit’s clutches,” She said with a strangely blank look on her face. Ozai attributed that fact to the unusual nature of the news and assignment. It wasn’t everyday that the spirits interfered with mortal affairs like this.

“Then go, my daughter, and take whatever resources you require to remove the dishonor from our family,” Ozai commanded.

Azula bowed again before retreating from the throne room. 

* * *

It was only once she was securely in the privacy of her own room that Azula allowed her mask to crack, just a little.

“Oh, Zuzu, you gigantic dumdum, what have you gotten yourself into now?” Azula bit her lip and began packing what few personal effects she allowed herself to have. The servants would take care of things like clothes and armor.

She had a couple of old friends to track down and hopefully she still had a brother left to rescue. She sighed and pulled out the small portrait she kept of him from its secret hiding place beneath the floorboards, drawn just months before the awful Agni Kai. She wondered if the scar had healed up okay. She didn’t even want to imagine what it must have felt like.

She carefully folded it and tucked it away into her tunic, right next to her heart. She steeled herself. She had to do this, she owed it to his memory, at least. Her brother had always been weak, no matter how hard she tried to toughen him up.

Mother had always been much too soft on him, undoing all of Azula’s hard work. What did her mother know, anyway? She was a coward. Scared of her own daughter for doing her best to survive, and then she just vanished. Ran away like the coward she was.

Azula sneered at nothing. She wasn’t weak! She was dangerous and deadly, and that was just what she wanted to be. She had survived when everyone else had fled or gotten crushed for being a weakling!

She glared at nothing. She had to do this. She had to. She wondered if Zuko was scared when he’d been taken away by the spirit. He had probably been terrified. 

Azula would kill it for turning her brother into a monster, and then she would probably have to kill him too. It would be a mercy. She’d try to save him if she could, but she doubted even she could undo a spirit curse.

She clenched her eyes shut and staunchly refused to cry. Crying was weakness! She needed to be strong for her brother. He deserved to die with dignity at least, and Azula would make that happen. 

She had failed him when they were children, she refused to fail him again. Failure was not an option. 

It never was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy, here we go! azula redemption arc fuck yeah! she got a raw deal in canon, so in my story she's gonna get rescued early and smothered with love. she's gonna react much differently than zuko though, since she's been stuck in ozai's clutches for way longer, and also has way more emotional baggage related to mothers. again, ursa, what the actual fuck, that is not how you mom! whatever, ursa sucks and ghost is getting another baby to coo over, eventually. idk yet exactly how shes gonna fit in with the group, but i'll try my best. 
> 
> sexism is so dumb even ozai thinks it's wack, if only for war-mongering reasons, but still! the point stands!
> 
> also cute little moment with chan, and mrs. ping backstory. i hope im not shoving in too much feminism, b/c i hate cramming my views down people's throats, b/c i hate it when people do that to me, but i needed a reason as to why someone from the very sexist earth kingdom would be willing to risk their business by doing such a controversial play.
> 
> white lady made up with ghost, and we get a more detailed backstory which sorta explains why she acted the way she did. not an excuse, but the situation was just a giant shit show for everyone involved. PK is not coming back, he's super dead btw.
> 
> so, if azula is hunting zuko and not aang, then who's gonna be the main antagonist for the gaang? you'll see :) its not even gonna be an oc either! i look forwards to your guesses in the comments. im currently flip-flopping between two characters, so we'll see how that goes
> 
> we're also coming up on the desert arc, which is gonna be fun :) i know that canonically sandbenders are a thing, but when i first saw them, i thought for sure they were airbenders. do you have any idea how hard complete genocide actually is? its basically impossible, you're always gonna miss some pocket of isolationist weirdos hiding in a cave or the mountains or the woods or sum shit, and the airbenders were NOMADS, with access to FLYING BISON. 
> 
> you cannot tell me that the fire nation got every last one, seriously. why were the sandbenders so interested in appa anyway? they live exclusively in the desert, how would they even know how rare or valuable he was? most people dont seem to even know what a flying bison even is, so i call shenanigans on that one. the sandbenders totally have air nomad ancestors and you cannot tell me otherwise, i will fight you
> 
> also, wan shi tong is like this ancient knowledge spirit right? they gonna know like a lot of history right? im assuming the library used to be a lot more accessible before the desert became a total wasteland, soooo. he's gonna take one look at zuko's agni-lookin ass, and one look at ghost, and flip his shit. he doesnt live in the spirit world, so he doesn't know about all the shit going down with it right now. 
> 
> idk i just want to see wan shi tong thirsting after ghost b/c of all their sweet sweet knowledge about an ancient civilization and culture and language that doesn't exist anymore. aside from agni and now zuko and co, no one knows about the white lady cause she was napping even harder than ghost was for the fckin longest time.
> 
> you know how embarrassing it is when you see your parents flirting? its even more embarrassing to watch your mom totally get hit on and not even realize its happening. wan shi tong finds forgotten ancient knowledge to be the sexiest thing ever, and guess who's got shit tons of that? looool thats gonna be so fun to write :)


	39. Hey Soul Sister, Long Time No See

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my gawwd so many things happening. azula's probably really ooc but idk what to do about that. in the last chapter i made a comment explaining that i changed her base personality and motivation a little bit so that she'd be easier to write a redemption arc for, and i hope i did her at least a tiny bit of justice here. i tried to explain her thinking as best i could but idk how well that actually came across. :( hopefully it doesnt suck too bad, but im really not all that pleased with this chapter. also stuff happened a bit out of order, since azula didnt get deployed until after blind bandit episode, so the gaang never encountered her in omashu, just mai b/c her family lives there

Azula bent down and picked up the clump of white fur. There were many similar clumps scattered around, creating a sort of trail to follow. While her mission was to find and...eliminate her brother, father’s reports often featured them in or near the same places.

She hoped that if she found the Avatar, she’d find her brother. The Avatar was said to be the bridge between the spirit world and the mortal world, so perhaps he could be...persuaded to help her free her brother from whatever spirit curse or taint that was affecting him.

Then, she could just capture the Avatar and return home with both her brother and the Avatar, and claim her brother had caught him after Azula rescued him from the spirit! That would fulfill the requirement for him to return home, and father would surely be pleased with the Avatar’s capture!

It was the perfect plan! Azula would get her brother back, and Zuzu would finally earn father’s approval like she had done by being a perfect prodigal daughter! Aside from mother, everything would go back to the way it used to be! Azula smiled at the thought.

She threw the clump of fur to the ground and returned to the tank-train, one of the newest military innovations, straight from the capital’s finest engineers! Ty Lee and Mai were waiting for her back in her own little private car.

“Didja find anything interesting Azula?” Ty Lee asked with her typical bubbliness. Azula had sort of missed it.

“There’s just a bunch of trees and rocks out there. What’s there to see?” Mai said with her typical dourness. Azula had missed that much less, but the familiarity was comforting nonetheless. 

Mai had been even more depressing ever since she’d been informed of their mission, which made sense considering Mai’s silly little crush on Zuzu. She wondered if Zuzu had ever actually noticed. Probably not, he was absolutely oblivious about those sorts of things. Her brother could be an idiot sometimes. Most of the time, actually, but that was what Azula was for.

She had the beauty, the brawns, and the brains, but Zuzu had always been a master of getting people to like him somehow, except for father. He’d somehow won mother over without even trying, and no matter what Azula did, she couldn’t seem to inspire the same sort of devotion in her underlings, except for Mai and Ty Lee of course, but she had no idea how she’d managed that, so it didn’t count.

Azula hated not knowing things, but she’d just get Zuzu to tell her the secret of getting people to like you after she rescued him.

“Actually I did. There’s a trail of white fur through the woods in a perfectly straight line. It's caught on the tops of trees as well as on the ground, which means the creature had to have been shedding the fur from a height. Now, what sort of flying animal has white fur, and is big enough to shed so much?”

“Oh! Oh! I know! Is it the Avatar’s flying bison?!” Ty Lee chirped excitedly.

“Precisely. Father’s reports often put my brother and the Avatar in the same places, so there’s a good chance that if we find the Avatar, we’ll find my wayward brother. The Avatar is supposed to be able to commune with and control spirits to a certain extent, so I’m sure he could be...persuaded into helping us with our little spirit problem,” Azula smirked.

“Oh, Azula that’s so smart! Does that mean we might be able to save Zuko?” Ty Lee asked.

“With any luck, yes. Then, we can just capture the Avatar and return home with both Zuzu and the Avatar. Father will be pleased, and the Fire Nation will have won another victory,” Azula declared with a satisfied look on her face. Ty Lee gushed about the brilliance of her plan, and even Mai seemed to perk up and become more motivated at the prospect of being able to save Zuko, as she should be.

Azula basked in the praise of her two closest and most trusted underlings for a small time before she left to go inform the helmsman of their change in course.

* * *

The Gaang was having a significantly less fun time as they became more and more tired as they tried to outrun whatever Fire Nation contraption was chasing them.

They flew away from it multiple times, with Toph and Katara butting heads over responsibility repeatedly. Tensions were rising as the group's tiredness increased.

Eventually, they decided to stand their ground and face the lumbering metal beast. It stopped a fair ways away from them, before a side door on one of the compartments opened and three fierce-looking girls came charging out riding mongoose-lizards.

The group didn’t recognize them, aside from the dour-looking girl with the knives. She’d confronted them at Omashu when her little brother, Tom-Tom, had wandered out with the escaping hoard of Earth Kingdom citizens.

They’d tried to negotiate a sort of hostage-trade, her brother for King Bumi, but King Bumi had refused to leave the city and the girl, frustrated, attacked them. The Gaang had left Tom-Tom and flown away on Appa out of the city. 

That had been weeks ago though before Gaoling, and the Gaang had no idea who the other two were, but the girl in the armor could shoot lightning and had a strange blue fire they’d never seen before, and they had all made their escape on Appa once again.

* * *

Meanwhile, the  _ Wani _ had been steadily making its way toward the Si Wong Desert. Apparently there was an ancient spirit library rumored to lie somewhere in its sandy depths, and Mother wanted to check it out. 

They thought that maybe that was where Zhao had gotten the knowledge needed to bind Zuko all those months ago.

They sailed above a field of flowers, but something was wrong. There were deep tracks that looked like tank treads cutting across it, and a trail of white fur alongside it. Zuko and Mother flew down to investigate, and Zuko cursed once he realized what was going on.

Zuko recognized the scent of the fur as the Avatar’s bison, and the  _ Wani _ changed their course to follow the tracks. Zuko was sure his father had finally assigned someone other than him to track the Avatar down, and Zuko was sure he’d have to rescue them all, again.

He wasn’t sure who his father would have sent, but he had a bad feeling in his gut about the whole thing.

* * *

Appa had crash landed after having fallen asleep mid-air, and Toph and Katara’s tempers had reached a boiling point. They were throwing accusations at each other and looked about two seconds away from actually physically fighting each other, before Toph accused Appa of being at fault and Aang had had enough.

He yelled at Toph and then they were all yelling at each other and Toph had decided to leave and go on her own way.

Aang despaired over his unthinking actions and Katara recognized that she bared some of the blame for driving Toph away, but they decided to give her some time to cool off before they tried apologizing.

They all bathed Appa to remove his loose fur, and Aang made a plan to lure the girls away with a fake trail. He grabbed the bag of fur and flew off in the opposite direction, hoping to lose their incredibly persistent and dangerous tail.

They left their stuff in the clearing and Sokka and Katara flew bareback on Appa away from the river. In his exhaustion, Appa didn’t rise up as quickly as he need to and snapped off a few treetops on his way out.

* * *

Toph stomped away from the group, fuming. She was pulling her own weight, and those ungrateful jerks tried to insist that she was selfish! Whatever, she was leaving! She could do just fine on her own!

* * *

Azula took in the scene before her. The fur trail led one way but the broken treetops suggested that the beast had flown off in a different direction. How curious. Ty Lee babbled about what to call the wet fur, eventually settling on ‘clumps’ and hugging Mai in joy. Azula huffed quietly and rolled her eyes, Ty Lee was such an airhead sometimes, but she balanced out Mai’s cynicism so Azula didn’t find it nearly as annoying as she would’ve otherwise.

She decided to follow the fake fur trail and ordered her frien--minions! She ordered her minions to try and track down the actual bison. Azula figured the Avatar, with his ability to fly on his own, would have left the false trail while his friends escaped. Hero types were always so predictable.

They split up, each riding their mongoose-lizard, and headed off to chase down their quarries. 

* * *

Zuko and Mother saw the parked tank-train, and followed the mongoose-lizard tracks. The  _ Wani _ , still cloaked, sailed off a ways to avoid detection and the twins decided to test out the latest upgrade that allowed the  _ Wani _ to land on solid ground. As the  _ Wani _ approached the ground, six enormous crystals grew out along the sides and stabbed into the ground, propping the  _ Wani _ up above the earth so that the crystal fins below it didn’t get crushed. 

The front of the  _ Wani’s _ bow still functioned as a way to disembark the ship from the front when it was folded down, so the twins simply lengthened the chains and beefed up the winches that lowered it, allowing it to fold downward much more than it usually could. It made the ramp very steep, but the twins just added in a small set of stairs to the side of the ramp for easy access.

The crew all took the opportunity to wear their masks outside the confines of the ship and enjoy the grass and open skies. The twins elected to stay in the ship as usual where it was more comfortable for them, and no one objected.

Li had finally managed to get a hold on his minor telepathic abilities, and wandered off a ways from the others to release his tight hold on them. With a sigh, his mental presence was allowed to expand into the surrounding area, and no one was close enough for Li to accidentally hear their innermost thoughts.

While he couldn’t do much more than read surface thoughts and emotions and detect where people were, Li still felt it was a violation of everyone’s privacy, so he kept his abilities on lockdown when he was on the ship normally.

So, imagine his surprise when Li felt the presence of another human mind slowly coming closer. It wasn’t any of the crew, their mind felt very...young. And upset. Li made to approach them, to see what such a young person was doing out here all alone, when he was knocked back onto his ass by a rock pillar. Ow.

“Oh, what the fuck, I wasn’t even doing anything!” Li complained, rubbing his sore tailbone.

“Who’s there?! Don’t make me beat the answer outta you!” Came a young, agitated, female voice.

Li turned around, and there was the Blind Bandit! What was she doing all the way out here?

“Oh, it’s you! You’re the Blind Bandit! What are you doing all the way out here?” Li asked in surprise.

“You know who I am?” The girl asked. 

Li accidentally got some of her surface thoughts on accident, but his mental shields took time to put back up, and required him to meditate, which he obviously couldn’t do right now, so he let it be. 

She mostly just seemed confused, but also felt a sense of pride and smugness at being recognized, along with a not so insignificant amount of...hurt? Like, emotionally. 

“Oh, yeah, I was at Earth Rumble VI, you kicked serious ass, it was incredible! Shame the Avatar stole your thunder, you were definitely the most entertaining to watch. But what are you doing all the way out here all alone? My Captain said you joined up with the Avatar’s group to teach him earthbending? Shouldn’t you be with them?” Li asked.

He was suddenly assaulted with the girl’s anger and frustration, and some sadness, too, as well as memories of an argument, but only the voices, no visuals to go with it aside from a strange sense of knowing where everyone was during the conversation. 

While normally Li could only sense surface thoughts and emotions, when someone was feeling especially strongly, or remembering a recent event they felt strongly about, Li could see it too.

“Woah, reign in the anger there girly, you’re gonna give me a headache from all the shouting!” Li said, unthinkingly. Her emotions were really running high right now, and Li had only just dropped his mental shields. Her anger was grating at his brain like sandpaper.

“What? No one’s shouting? It’s just us? And how’d you know who I was supposed to be with? You spying on me?!” The Blind Bandit accused

Ah, shit. Well, the Avatar already knew about his Captain’s spirithood, so maybe it was okay to tell her this too?

“Ah, well. You’ve met my Captain already, right? Tall fellow, kinda spiky, a little lacking in the humanity department? I’m part of his crew, he told us about meeting you back in Gaoling. Aside from his uncle, the rest of us aren’t quite 100% human anymore either. I didn’t expect to meet anybody this far out, so I let my shields down. You’re thinking really loudly right now, I guess you had a fight with your friends?”

* * *

Toph had no idea what to think right now. She certainly wasn’t expecting to run into anyone out here, much less someone who knew who she was.

The more the guy tried to explain himself, the weirder things got. She stomped her foot on the ground, but the guy wasn’t fuzzy to her senses at all. He felt like a totally normal human, except he had horns?

He explained he was part of Zuko’s crew and apparently wasn’t totally human either, and he could hear her thoughts, which seemed like a really cool ability to have. He wasn’t lying about any of it either, she would’ve been able to tell if he was.

She didn’t know quite how to feel about him being able to read her mind, but the guy sounded apologetic, and it didn’t seem like he had all that much control over it, or else he would have just turned it off if he was getting a headache.

She decided to let it go for now, and vent her frustrations about Twinkletoes and his friends, since the guy seemed willing to listen.

* * *

Li didn’t expect for the girl to suddenly go off about what whiny babies the Avatar’s group were, and how the Water Tribe girl, who she apparently called ‘sugar queen’ was trying to be her mom and tell her what to do all the time.

Li just listened and made the appropriate noises in response to show he was listening, because the girl was obviously blind and couldn’t tell if he was nodding or not. He had no choice but to actually listen to the entire argument, since she was thinking about it so much, and he couldn’t help but see both sides of the argument.

Also, her name was apparently Toph, but since she hadn’t introduced herself or given him permission to use it, he’d refrain.

Some weird instinct inside him told him it would be rude, and he got the strange sense like he’d be violating some rule by doing so. Not that anything bad would happen, but just that he shouldn’t do it. Li didn’t know what was up with that, but he just went with it.

Evidently the Avatar’s group hadn’t been able to get any sleep since they were being chased by the same group his Captain and Ghost were currently tracking down, and everyone had started blaming each other in their tiredness. 

The others were upset because she refused to help set up camp, which was understandable, but she also provided all her own resources and didn’t take anything from the group other than transportation on the bison.

Ah, Li saw what the problem was.

He waited until the girl ran out of steam, and then decided to offer her some advice.

“I think I see what the problem is here. I know you didn’t ask for it, but do you want my opinion?”

“You don’t agree with  _ them _ do you?” She asked, looking a bit put out.

“Not necessarily. See, they probably think of you as part of the group now, but you don’t exactly see yourself that way, which, considering how recently you joined what seems to be a tight-knit group, makes total sense. You don’t see yourself as part of the group yet, but they do, and they have expectations of what each group member does to contribute.

Let me put it this way. You see yourself as just kinda along for the ride. You’re there to teach the Avatar earthbending and not much else. After that, you just kinda want to go your own way yeah? But the Avatar probably already sees you as a friend who’s there to stay. He seems like the type to make friends quickly, but you’re not exactly the same way. The other girl, ‘sugar queen’ seems to think the same as the Avatar, so to her, you’re a group member who’s not doing your fair share of the work. 

You don’t see yourself that way, so you disagreed with her, and your personalities and the current situation of little to no sleep didn’t help. No one was really thinking with a clear head, so…” Li trailed off awkwardly, now aware that he’d just been lecturing about the girl’s own feelings at her.

* * *

Toph was speechless. Man, that guy hit the nail right on the head! Now shit started to make sense a bit. That actually  _ had _ been her plan. Teach the Avatar earthbending, and then travel the world on her own, having her own adventures where there were no parents or bossy waterbenders telling her what to do!

If Twinkletoes and Sugar Queen thought she was staying as part of the group, then Sugar Queen’s insistence that she help out made more sense. But...did Twinkletoes really consider her a friend so soon? Toph wasn’t sure, but part of her wanted that. 

She’d wanted friends for so long back in Gaoling, but had convinced herself she didn’t need any for so long that she didn’t even recognize that Aang probably already considered her a friend…

Toph didn’t know much about friendship, but she did know that friends didn’t just bail on other friends when the going got tough, but that’s what she did. Now she felt kinda bad. Twinkletoes  _ did _ need to learn earthbending, and she was the best earthbender in the world, hands down, so no matter who else Twinkletoes found to teach him, they’d be a shittier earthbender and give shittier earthbending instruction.

Toph remembered how much time she wasted with ‘Master’ Yu, and she wasn’t about to let anyone go through that! She’d make Aang the second-best earthbender the world had ever seen, and everyone would know that she was his teacher.

Mind made up, she thanked the weird maybe-spirit for his advice, and turned around to go find everyone.

* * *

Li felt the girl cycle through several emotions before she became almost scarily determined. This girl was definitely the consummate earthbender. Stubborn as a rock and just as tough, and basically immovable when they’d made up their minds.

She thanked him before turning around and going back the way she came. Li took a few calming breaths and spent a few minutes raising his shields back up before making his way back to the _Wani_ , feeling lighter than before. It always felt nice to help others work through their feelings. Li had gotten plenty of practice with his younger brother Lee, who was just about as emotionally constipated as you could get.

Li smiled beneath his mask and whistled a cheery tune on his way back to the ship.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sokka and Katara are not having a good time trying to deal with the stabby-knife lady, or the freakishly flexible girl in pink. Sokka tried and failed miserably to fight her off, only managing to injure her hand with his forehead after she had already rendered most of his limbs useless.

They are both saved by an air blast from Appa’s tail, and they beat a hasty retreat. They flew off to follow Aang’s fake trail, intent on helping him.

* * *

Aang flew for a few miles before running out of fur, ending up in an abandoned town. He sat down to wait for the girls to come find him, intending to try and talk to them.

He didn’t have to wait very long though, before the scariest girl came riding into town on her mongoose-lizard.

She dismounted and approached. Aang stayed seated on the ground for now.

“All right, you've caught up with me. Now, who are you and what do you want?” Aang demanded.   


“You mean you haven't guessed? You don't see the family resemblance? Here's a hint,” At that, the girl placed a manicured hand over her left eye and deepened her voice comically, “‘I must find the Avatar to restore my honor!’” Then in her normal voice, she added, “It's okay, you can laugh. It's funny.”

“So what now?” Aang said tiredly. He hadn’t even known that Zuko even had a sister, but he wouldn’t have guessed based on facial structure either. He’d only seen Zuko in a human form, like, four times total, and the last two times he hadn’t even had the scar anymore.

“Now? Now, it's over. You're tired and you have no place to go. You can run, but I'll catch you, and then you’ll help me whether you want to or not,” The girl added viciously.

Aang got to his feet and took on a fighting stance. He had a feeling he wouldn’t want to help her with whatever she wanted, considering she hunted him down so relentlessly instead of just asking. 

“I'm not running,” He said, and he readied himself for a fight.

“Do you really want to fight me?” Zuko’s apparent sister said.

“No, he really doesn’t,” Came a familiar voice, from down a side alley.

Zuko, in human form, emerged from the alleyway, seemingly shocking his sister.

“Zuzu?” The girl says, like she can’t quite believe her eyes, before her expression hardened and she snarled, “No, you’re not my brother, you’re just some monster wearing his face, and you didn’t even have the guts to do it properly!”

She then proceeded to ignore Zuko entirely, turning back to Aang, “I’m going to capture you, Avatar, and make you undo whatever spirit curse he’s under!”

Zuko looked confused and alarmed before he seemed to realize something, “Lala, I don’t know what lies you’ve heard or what father has told you, but I’m not under any curses or control right now. It’s just me.”

“Liar!” She yelled, and she lunged for Aang, hands already lit with blue flames.

* * *

Zuko and Mother flew above the countryside, tracking the mongoose-lizard tracks. They had found a small clearing where the riders had seemed to stop for a small time, and Zuko had flown down to investigate.

There were three distinct human scents in the clearing, and one of them seemed eerily familiar. It tickled at the back of Zuko’s mind, like a halfway forgotten memory. The riders seemed to split up, and so had Mother and Zuko. Zuko decided to follow the familiar scent, and Mother had gone to investigate the larger group.

Mother had given him something they called a ‘Void Idol,’ which contained a bit of Void from their own body. Zuko could use it to call for help, independent of the bond. In case something went wrong or blocked the bond again, the Idol would let Mother find him no matter where he was, even better than the tracking spell.

Zuko cloaked himself in the shadows when he followed the trail of fur and arrived in an abandoned town. He saw the Avatar sitting in the town square, waiting for something, or perhaps more accurately, someone.

He didn’t have to wait long, and when he saw who it was, everything snapped into place. 

Azula was here! Why was she here? Oh, father had probably sent her to capture the Avatar, now that he wasn’t doing it anymore. He wondered if father thought him dead.

He only halfway listened to the conversation they were having, and Zuko shapeshifted into his human form and summoned clothes. Azula wouldn’t recognize him in his true shape.

He tuned back into the conversation and dropped the cloaking spell before making his entrance. Azula seemed shocked to see him, but then she became very upset, and made some strange accusations.

Then he realized what was probably happening. He tried to convince her that it was really him and not some spirit wearing his face or mind control, but she didn’t seem to want to listen.

What sorts of horrible things had father told her? He had to stop her from hurting the Avatar, and then get her to calm down and listen to him. He had his work cut out for him.

* * *

Azula ignored the spirit wearing her brother’s face and attacked the Avatar. The boy easily showed off his master-level airbending skills to dodge and evade her. She chased after him all over town, ignoring the spirit’s attempts to stop her. 

For some reason it refused to use Zuzu’s bending. Maybe it couldn’t? Or maybe it was some remnant of her brother fighting the spirit for control? She didn’t know, but the thought of it only increased her rage and determination to catch the Avatar and force him to use his powers to help free her brother.

Eventually, some Water Tribe peasants, who were apparently the Avatar’s friends, arrived to help, making her job even harder. She snarled. The spirit again tried to approach her, yelling something, but Azula blasted it backwards as gently as she dared. 

She didn’t know if a spirit had taken over his body, or if it had just stolen his face, but if her brother was still in there she didn’t want to hurt him too badly.

Yet another of the Avatar’s friends arrived, this one a little earthbending girl. She appeared to be blind, but could somehow still see. They all worked together to corner her, but the spirit was still yelling at everybody to not hurt her. How...odd. It was really trying very hard to sell itself as her brother. She was infuriated at the thought. 

The others didn’t seem very inclined to listen to it either, and they continued to back her into a corner. This wasn’t good.

She needed to escape, and the spirit seemed to be the weakest link. She readied a distraction. 

Well, look at this. Enemies and monsters, all working together. I'm done,” She raised her hands in a false surrender, and readied her chi, “I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor.”

The others didn’t lower their guard, but the spirit did, just a bit. Now was her chance! 

She launched an extremely precise bolt of blue fire at it, aiming for the shoulder. It should knock it off balance long enough for her to escape without potentially killing her brother.

The aggressive action was enough to make everyone else launch attacks at her simultaneously, but instead of the spirit crying out with pain, it yelled at the others to stop, and blocked all their attacks from hitting her with a massive wall of the hottest, yet reddest fire she’d ever seen.

The spirit’s eyes were now burning a hellish red and it lunged for her while all the others were still blinded by the fire wall. She blasted blue flame at it to try and ward it off, too startled to think about not trying to injure it too badly, but her flames rolled off of it like water of a turtle-duck’s shell, causing no visible damage.

It reached her, and while Azula was not nearly as skilled at close quarters combat as she was at bending, she was still a formidable opponent. 

The spirit just took the blows and it grabbed her around the arms and middle, tackling her to the ground, except they didn’t hit the ground. Instead, her world turned red, and flipped upside down. Her inner flame went completely weird, and her back hit a very soft surface.

She screamed in frustration and blasted fire every which way, thrashing in the spirits iron grip. It didn’t let go, instead adjusting its hold and dragging her upright in a kneeling position. It pressed her face into its shoulder and held her head still, with its other arm pressing against her back and restraining both of her arms. It was hugging her, she realized, and she screamed at it for the audacity!

Azula thrashed some more and even tried breathing fire directly on it, but again, the fire seemed to have no effect. It waited until she had tired herself out before it tried speaking to her again. 

“Azula, it really is me! I don’t know what father has told you, but it’s probably either a lie or bad information! I don’t know why you think I’m under a spirit curse, but I’m not! It’s just me. It’s always been me. There’s no spirit that’s taken over my body, either! I don’t know what to do to prove it to you!”

“Tell me something only my brother would know!” She demanded. She didn’t know if the spirit would have access to his memories, but it was the best she could come up with at the moment. 

It was still holding her, and had clearly demonstrated it was physically much stronger than her. She was well and truly trapped and at its mercy. She refused to admit that she was scared, even to herself.

* * *

Zuko held his little sister tight as she tried to free herself. He’d accidentally tackled her straight into the Dream Realm. He didn’t mean to, but all he’d been thinking about was how he had to protect her and get her away from everyone else trying to hurt her.

His mind was too frazzled for a teleport, but he guessed that retreating into the Dream Realm was more instinctual. They’d ended up in the Burrow, the safest place he could think of. 

The Nightmare Heart beat loudly some ways above his head, suspended from the ceiling. The close proximity filled him with strength and power, and he’d had to fight the urge to shift into his true form.

He held onto her as tight as he could without hurting her, and waited for her to tire herself out. Thankfully, everything in the Burrow was already fireproof, so he didn’t have to work about her fire burning any of his things.

Her fire was blue now, and he was proud of her for the accomplishment. Before he’d met Mother, such knowledge would have only made him burn with envy at her prowess, but now he felt nothing but pride, and sadness that she’d trained so hard.

Father was probably pushing her day and night to train harder and be perfect. He’s so sorry he left his little sister all alone with him. It was probably awful.

Azula eventually ran out of steam and he tried talking to her, to convince her that he was himself. What lies had father told her?

When she asked for him to tell her something only he would know, he carefully allowed himself to hope.

“When we were younger, we used to sneak into the kitchens to steal daifuku. We’d go hide behind that one bush in the gardens and eat them until we felt ill. We never got caught. Your favorite flavor is red bean.

When we were a bit older you were envious of how well I could climb and dared me to climb that one giant tree near the wall of the palace. I got all the way to the top, but couldn’t get down. You ran to get mom and when I finally got down again I told her I was trying to show off so she wouldn’t get mad at you. I got grounded for a week.

Uncle once sent us gifts, and when you saw he sent you a dress-up doll you burned it, because you wanted a knife like I got. 

You used to always try and push me into the turtle-duck pond, saying I should live with them if I liked them so much. I told mom I slipped in the mud whenever you succeeded.

One time I actually managed to get a firebending kata right before you did and you refused to talk to me for three days. I purposefully messed it up the next time we had practice together and father mocked me for it. I always thought it was worth it though. 

The night before mom disappeared we hid behind the curtains in the throne room together, but I got scared and ran off. That night you told me dad was going to kill me and told me to run away to the Earth Kingdom. Mom came in and drug you away, and I told myself that you always lied.

You weren’t though. Mom woke me up in the middle of the night the next day and said goodbye, even if I didn’t realize that’s what she was doing. She told me to never forget who I was. 

I always wondered if she had said goodbye to you, too. But now I know that she never did. She was a terrible mother to you, and I’m so sorry I got banished and left you all alone.

I always told you I hated it when you called me Zuzu, because I knew if you thought I actually liked it, you’d stop.

My body’s different now, but my mind is still the same. It’s just me, and no one else. I’m still the same old dumdum brother inside, Lala, and I’ve missed you so much. ”

* * *

Azula didn’t know what to think. Everything he’d said was true. He’d even told her things he had no reason to. He could always still be lying, but Azula usually knew when people were lying to her. Takes a liar to know a liar, after all, but she didn’t think he was.

His voice was emotional and it sounded genuine. Zuzu was a shit liar almost all of the time, she didn’t know how mother had ever fallen for any of them.

She sat silently, kneeling there in some pile of something soft that she couldn’t see, because he was still hugging her and she couldn’t move. She decided to focus on the things she could still feel.

His heartbeat felt strong, but his body temperature was crazy high. He wasn’t sweating or laboring for breath, though, so he probably wasn’t sick. He’d said his body was different now, and Azula remembered the way his eyes had glowed and how powerful his fire felt, despite its red color.

“If you really are my brother, then what happened to you? Last I checked, my brother had half his face missing, and his eyes didn’t glow.”

“It’s a long, long story, but I’m more than willing to tell you the whole thing if you promise to listen. If I let you go, do you promise not to run away? We’re in the spirit world right now, and there’s dangerous stuff outside.”

“If we’re in the spirit world, why does my bending still work?”

“Because I brought you here physically. Your actual body was brought with you into the spirit world. Normally when people cross over like the Avatar or Uncle, it’s only the spirit that comes, and the body is left behind in the real world. Bending is intrinsically tied to the body, so if you don’t have a body, you can’t bend. Now, if I let you go, will you stay here and listen?”

“Yes.”

“Are you telling the truth?”

“...I am now,” She admitted.

The iron grip released her and she flung herself backwards in a roll. What appeared to be her brother was still just kneeling there, and Azula’s eyes darted around, taking in every detail.

They were in some sort of cave, and thick tree roots hung down from the ceiling and trailed down the walls. The stone walls of the cave had little cubby holes carved into them, and various boxes and piles of stuff were organized neatly against the walls.

Her maybe-brother was sitting in the middle of what appeared to be a nest, sitting in a depression in the cave floor. It was lined with softly glowing white fur. Then, she noticed the sound of a heart beating, but much louder than she’d ever heard before, coming from above her.

Her maybe-brother was still just patiently sitting there, so she chanced a look upwards. A heart made of scarlet fire lay suspended from the ceiling, cradled gently by tree roots.

“What in Agni’s name is that?” She asked, looking down at her maybe-brother, who had sat himself cross legged in the nest.

“That’s the Nightmare Heart, and it’s important to the story, so why don’t you come sit and I’ll tell you the whole thing.” He said, patting the ground next to him.

She glared but carefully made her way into the nest and sat down across from him. She crossed her arms and sat up as straight as she could.

“Okay then. Talk,” She commanded, in her best ‘you’d better start talking or someone’s going to start losing body parts’ voice. She didn’t see a way to escape, anyways. The one entrance looked much too steep to climb out of quickly, and one of her very few weaknesses was her curiosity. The other was red bean daifuku, not that anybody besides her brother knew that.

“Okay, so this whole thing starts at the Southern Air Temple, where I discovered…”

And so it went on for probably hours. Azula’s sense of time was all shot to hell because her connection to the sun was super weird right now. According to it, the sun was located a few miles away, and it hadn’t moved much at all, only a few dozen feet to the right or left of her, which made absolutely zero sense.

It made more sense when Zuko got to the part of the currently batshit insane story where he got to meet Agni, like, actual Agni, face to face. Apparently that was what had made the sun go dim months ago. 

Agni had gotten summoned right out of the spirit realm onto the mortal plane for the first time in eons, and firebenders actually sensed him, and not the sun, but he so rarely ever left his own domain in the spirit world that nobody noticed.

The story continued on, but Azula had needed a break when he’d gotten to the part where he found out what happened to mother from Ghost, the other shadowy spirit that he traveled with. Zuko called them Nana at first, and then Mother after he’d gotten spirit-adopted, which explained all the reports of his appearance changing.

Azula was fuming mad. Mother had just abandoned them all to go live a happy life with some no-name peasant boy, and had gotten all her memories removed! Azula wanted to believe he was lying or that Ghost had been lying to him, but even when she employed all her skills at lie-detection, he still read as sincere.

It also sounded just like something she’d do, too. Mother had never loved her, but apparently she hadn’t really loved Zuko either, or at least not enough to want to remember him. Then she just ran off like the coward she was to live a fairytale life with the peasant boy. Unbelievable.

Azula eventually stomped back into the nest for Zuko to continue the story. He looked upset too. Clearly they were both in agreement that Ursa was a terrible mom. A part of Azula felt vindicated. It wasn’t just her, it was Ursa. Ursa didn’t love her because she didn’t seem to love anyone enough to stick around. Even Zuko, who Azula always assumed was the favorite, wasn’t enough. If she didn’t love Zuko enough, then Azula never had a chance. Good riddance.

Zuko continued on with the crazy story, and when he got to the part where Zhao had essentially tortured him for two weeks, she was about ready to rip Zhao’s throat out with her  _ teeth _ .

She did not put all this effort into saving him, for some asshole with an ego complex to kill him. Clearly, Zuko was fine, since he was sitting in front of her, but that didn’t make it anymore enjoyable to hear.

Apparently he _had_ actually died, but he’d inadvertently saved himself by messing with the Nightmare Heart too much. Azula was wary about if this was her brother or not after hearing that announcement, but how would a spirit have his memories if his old body had been destroyed? Can’t read a mind if there’s no mind left after all.

He still seemed to care for her and still talked in pretty much the same ways, and still made dumdum decisions that got him into trouble, so she was fairly confident he was still her Zuzu.

He still sucked at explaining things and telling stories though, so she’d occasionally have to interrupt him to ask for clarification on things, or he’d double back on himself to add in a forgotten detail, but overall his tale explained things.

* * *

“I want to see it,” Azula said.

“What?”

“I want to see what you look like now. You said you shapeshifted to look like you do now, and that’s why your scar’s gone. Show me,” She demanded.

“Alright. It’s a bit jarring,” her brother warned.

“I’m not a little girl anymore, Zuzu,” She said flatly.

“I know you’re not.”

Her brother then burst into flames, and left in his place was something out of a nightmare.

Black angled plates, red sweeping horns, and a large ruff of fur that appeared to be slightly on fire, her brother cut an intimidating figure. He also looked remarkably like the picture of Agni she’d seen in the Dragonbone Catacombs during grandfather Azulon’s funeral.

Not everything matched up quite right though. Mainly the colors, but also the placement of the flaming ruff. In the picture of Agni, it was more like a lion-tiger’s mane, in that it encircled His head a bit and totally covered His neck. It also just appeared to be an especially voluminous mass of fire.

On Zuko’s new form it was more like a fluffy collar around the base of his neck and shoulders, and it didn’t look totally on fire. The strands of fur moved like they were on fire, and flickers of actual fire sometimes decorated the tips for an instant before leaving, but you could still tell it was fur.

Zuko was also much taller like this. The top of Azula’s head only came up to just above his collarbone area, much to her dismay. The ‘little sister’ jokes would never stop now.

“Very intimidating, I approve,” She said.

“Of course you would,” He said fondly.

Then Azula remembered why she was even on this mission in the first place. Shit. What was she supposed to do now? Apparently Agni didn’t support the war, which baffled Azula, but the bigger problem was that Zuko had been charged by Agni himself to actually stop the war.

He couldn’t just ignore a divine order like that! But also father now wanted him dead, and he’d definitely try to kill her brother if he got in his way. Father was determined to win the war, and Azula knew for a fact that her father believed the spirits shouldn’t interfere with mortal affairs.

He had told the Fire Sages to lie to the populace multiple times. He’d told Azula it was to keep the masses in line, and Azula had never been overly spiritual anyway, thinking that it was just an easy way to control the less educated, but now her whole view had been flipped upside down.

Agni was real and alive, and Zuko was His chosen champion, and Azula and her father were actually blood related to Him, which was nuts, but what that also meant was that Agni was technically still the head of the family. He held the highest authority, and Azula knew to follow the head of the family. She’d thought it was father, but it turns out it was still Agni.

She didn’t know what to do, and explained the problem to Zuko.

“Well shit, I never thought about it like that. Crap, father really told you to kill me?” He asked, not really sounding all that surprised, actually.

“Yes, and if you really were just being puppeted by a spirit, I’d have done it too. From the sounds of it, you already know how terrible that is. Couldn’t think of a better end for Zhao myself. Never liked the little boot-licker anyways,” She said dismissively.

“Yeah...it was terrible being used like that. If I knew I’d never be free of it I’d probably want you to kill me, too,” Zuko said.

They were both kind of quiet at the heavy topic.

“But that still doesn’t tell me what we’re going to do about father,” She said.

Zuko sighed aggressively and hissed a bit, rubbing all four of his hands over his face and horns.

“Let’s go find Mother, I mean Ghost. Maybe they’ll know what to do…” Zuko said, sounding uncertain.

“Alright then, how are we getting out of here?” Azula asked.

Zuko simply raised his claws, which began to glow with a sinister red light. He slashed them downward and a portal back to the mortal realm opened. He reached out and took her hand before leading her through the rip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the whole situation is banana balls, and her entire worldview got flipped on its head, and she finds out what her brother has been up to the entire time. im still trying to figure out if i have her join the wani now, which makes the most sense to me, but seems really fast paced, or if i have her still off doing her own stuff with mai and ty lee, but i dont know what id have them doing, since she cant hunt down the avatar or return home with zuko D: 
> 
> im in a bit of pickle here guys, suggestions are welcome! idk if i'll be able to keep doing daily uploads, so stuff might start slowing down due to real life BS, but we'll see.
> 
> regardless, next chapter the siblings go see ghost and then i'll have to decide where to go from there


	40. Canon Omake: Where The Wild Things Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo, another omake! this one is also canon and happens some time after azula joins up with the wani crew. more songs b/c im a sucker for them and i was just listening to the lyrics when it hit me how well they matched up with stuff in hallownest. all credit for the song goes to Aviators, you should go check them out!

Everyone was enjoying being on solid ground. The  _ Wani _ was great and all, but unless you were the twins, eventually everyone craved grass beneath their feet at some point. Zuko had been getting antsy too, so Mother had suggested they all stop so they could go on a hunt. 

Azula looked intrigued when Zuko mentioned that he had to go on a hunt every few weeks or it started to drive him up the wall. She remarked on him finally getting over his squeamishness about hunting animals. He explained that he still did love animals, but hunting was different. 

He was respectful and ate as much of the creature as he could, and what he couldn’t eat he left for nature to reclaim. He always tried to make the kills as quick and painless for his prey as possible, and never hunted more than he could eat. 

It was a sort of ‘hunter’s honor code’ Aza explained. She abhorred people who hunted for the sport of it but didn’t bother to actually eat or use the corpse except for stuffing the hide to gawk at later or brag about.

Hunting for food was much different. It was a natural process, no different from a tiger-lion killing and eating an antelope-zebra in the wild. 

Jee reminisced fondly of hunting with his father and cooking whatever they caught on a campfire, and taking the hides home to make leather with. It was apparently a yearly tradition for his family before his father had passed away.

That led into a conversation of family traditions each of the crew had, if they had any. When the conversation rolled around to Mother people were a bit curious. They knew Mother had a shit family, so they asked about any Hallownest holidays they enjoyed.

Mother was silent for a small time, looking deep in thought, before they seemed to perk up.

“Hallownest did have a holiday that revolved around hunting and revelry. It was more popular in Deepnest, but other parts of Hallownest adopted it over time, even if they twisted it to fit their more delicate sensibilities.

They called it ‘Halloween’ and it involved painting or otherwise decorating your face or mask to look as frightening as possible, although some went the other direction and made themselves look cute and harmless. It depended on the person. 

Anyways, you decorated your mask or face and dressed up in costumes. Some could be very elaborate. Then, you went door to door and collected sweets or little candies or snacks from houses that were participating. People would set out a lumafly lantern on their doorstep and decorate their houses to show that they were participating.

It was mostly a holiday for the grubs, but some adults got really into it too, decorating their houses to be as scary as possible, and only those brave enough to approach got candies.

In Deepnest though, that was the true holiday, called 'All Hallow’s Eve', and they ritually painted their faces or masks with sigils to ward off the restless spirits of the dead, and they went on something called ‘The Wild Hunt’. 

It was essentially a massive hunting party, sometimes multiple smaller ones, and they went off to fight the fiercest prey they could find and bring it back to everyone else. 

There was a huge bonfire, with singing and dancing and feasting. They burned herbs and wooden amulets with protection spells or blessings carved on them to bring peace to any wandering spirits.

It was their biggest celebration of the year for them, and it marked a turning point in their calendar,” Mother explained. Everyone looked intrigued.

“Hey, I know it's probably totally the wrong date, but why don’t we celebrate it tonight, just the  _ Wani _ crew? Ghost and Zuko can go hunting, and the rest of us can start a big bonfire, and we can drag the twins out here so they can play their hand drums. We could decorate our masks with ink and have our own little ‘Hallow’s Eve’!”

Mother looked excited at the prospect, and even Azula looked interested.

“Well sure, it sounds like fun! Mother and I will do our best to bring back enough for everyone, Uncle can go get herbs from his garden in the green room, and Li could provide the ink and brushes, if that’s okay with you, Li?” Zuko asked.

“Heck yeah, this is gonna be awesome!” Li exclaimed, already running back into the ship to get his calligraphy brushes and secret stash of inks. They were going to a good cause, so he didn’t mind sharing in the least.

“Ah, well, I’d better go find my pruning shears and get to work, then,” Iroh said, slowly getting up and ambling his way back to the ship. Hopefully his herb garden would survive the coming onslaught.

“Oh! Oh! I’ll go bust out my stash of Bloodwine!” Lin shouted in excitement.

“You have a stash of Bloodwine? Since when?” Jee demanded.

“Oh, uh, well...I maybe might have started making my own after I tried some at Agni’s temple? It’s even less alcoholic than the stuff He gave us, but I accidentally found out a way to make it really fizzy, so it’s fun to drink,” Lin explained.

“Well, you can’t just tell us that and then hold out on us! Go get it, here I’ll help, where have you hidden it, anyways?”

Lin and Jee walked back into the ship, leaving Mother, Azula, and himself standing outside in the clearing. 

“Well, since everyone else is doing something, I’m going to start making the bonfire,” Azula declared. She got up and made her way towards the woods to start collecting firewood.

Then it was just him and Mother. They looked at each other and simultaneously ran off into the trees to go find and kill enough things to feed everyone.

* * *

It was just starting to be nightfall when they all reconvened in front of the  _ Wani. _ The twins were in their weighted robes with their hoods pulled up and masks on, and Azula had managed a truly impressive pile of firewood.

There were two big kegs of Lin’s bootleg Bloodwine, causing everyone to wonder where she had hidden it or how she managed to make so much.

Li was sitting off to the side, painting his own mask with delicate line-work using a mirror.

Jee was setting up a spit to roast the food on, and Uncle was sitting on a log someone had dragged into the clearing, coaching him on how to most optimally roast something using a spit.

Zuko and Mother had had a most impressive hunt, including a water-deer and a fox-goat, along with a couple other smaller things like a duck-goose and a turkey-pheasant.

* * *

Once dark had truly fallen, the party began in earnest. Most of the food had been rubbed with spices and cooked, though a fair bit was left raw for Zuko and Mother to enjoy the way they liked best.

Li had painted everyone’s mask with a different design, and Lin was liberally passing around her fizzy Bloodwine. Zuko had lit the bonfire with his Nightmare Flames, giving the whole clearing a decidedly sinister air. 

The twins had started up on their little hand drums, and Ghost had started adding in other musical accompaniment using their mimicking, but no lyrics.

Then, Zuko was gripped by the oddest urge to sing, and bolstered by the fantastic atmosphere, and perhaps the slightest bit of liquid courage from the Bloodwine, opened his mouth. The words came unbidden to his mind, they just felt right.

_ Life's breath in the candlelight, _

_ Lost hearts in the dead of night,  _

_ It's a long way down,  _

_ To the place they found,  _

_ Dark sun, hollowed by the fade,  _

_ Our debt they left to be paid,  _

_ Seen the blackness stare,  _

_ Promising to spare,  _

_ The chosen!  _

Once he’d really gotten into it, he leapt into the blazing bonfire, spinning and swaying and occasionally flapping his wings to send out gorgeous waves and swirls of burning red Nightmare Flame above everyone’s heads.

_ Born of graves and left below,  _

_ Painted ashes, painted snow,  _

_ When the dark awakens,  _

_ Fires of our last hope are getting low,  _

_ Souls of gods and souls of men,  _

_ Meet in cinders to ascend,  _

_ Fate has chosen,  _

_ And our fading light is at its end,  _

Everyone was singing together, somehow. No one knew the lyrics, and yet they all sang in unison.

_ I've a tale that time has lost,  _

_ Sins of judgment born in frost,  _

_ Then he took a name,  _

_ For the one profaned,  _

_ Know the dark but let it rest,  _

_ Left to lurkers in their quest,  _

_ Let the watchers fight,  _

_ And the blood ignite,  _

_ The chosen!  _

Sometimes the flames he sent out swirled together and formed little burning fireballs that hovered in the air, adding and even more otherworldly air to the whole thing. He belted out the lyrics and the other followed suit.

_ Born of graves and left below,  _

_ Painted ashes, painted snow,  _

_ When the dark awakens,  _

_ Fires of our last hope are getting low,  _

_ Souls of gods and souls of men,  _

_ Meet in cinders to ascend, _

_ Fate has chosen,  _

_ And our fading light is at its end,  _

_ Souls to revive us,  _

_ Or rot us away,  _

_ Warmth for the weary,  _

_ And death for the sane,  _

_ Cursed yet we listen,  _

_ For bells left to toll,  _

_ To fight back the depths of Humanity's soul,  _

_ For the unkindled,  _

_ We look to the sun, _

_ Cities in gold,  _

_ All the victories won,  _

_ Fear not the dark,  _

_ Or the monsters, my friend,  _

_ And brace for the feast,  _

_ Of humanity's end! _

They danced wildly around the burning red fire, spinning themselves and each other, stomping their feet and throwing their heads back to scream at the moon like a pack of wild things.

_ Born of graves and left below,  _

_ Painted ashes, painted snow,  _

_ When the dark awakens,  _

_ Fires of our last hope are getting low,  _

_ Souls of gods and souls of men,  _

_ Meet in cinders to ascend, _

_ Fate has chosen,  _

_ And our fading light is at its end, _

_ Born of graves and left below,  _

_ Painted ashes, painted snow,  _

_ When the dark awakens,  _

_ Fires of our last hope are getting low,  _

_ Souls of gods and souls of men,  _

_ Meet in cinders to ascend, _

_ Fate has chosen,  _

_ And our fading light is at its end, _

_ Fading light! _

They reveled in the wildness of it all, something dark and primal came out from all their hearts to be free, if only for a moment. 

They each ended the song by letting out roars of their own, a shrieking, screaming cacophony of primal noise.

Azula threw a powerful bolt of lightning into the cloudless night sky in her excitement. She’d never felt so alive!

Dear Heart sent out a curling wave of Nightmare Flame that didn’t burn anyone or anything. The magic wrapped around his friends and family, curling around their hearts and protecting them.

Mother threw their head back and shrieked their excitement and victory to the skies in the True Voice of the Void. The others could taste Mother's joy on their tongues, the air saturated with raw, wild magic. 

* * *

The sounds of their revelry carried on the breeze, and those still out and about in the nearest town heard the screaming calls and saw the burning red light emanating from the forest. The light and screams were not from a forest fire. Something sinister was in the air. The spirits were restless.

Lightning shot from the ground into the cloudless sky in a perversion of the natural order, and the shrieks sounded like the tortured screams of the damned. The night seemed to grow darker, the stars blotted out, the shadows thrashed. 

Every candle and lantern in town turned a sinister red, and those who looked deeply into the scarlet fire would later swear they saw their worst nightmares brought to life in the flames.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song is fittingly called 'Fading Light' and it's amazing. Go check out Aviators, they rock. :)
> 
> zuko's getting into his role as the nightmare king, spreading just a bit of fear and chaos without even realizing it.
> 
> ghost's memory for human things is a bit spotty sometimes, and they can get stuff messed up. they accidentally blended some human holidays into hallownest that didn't actually exist. well the deepnest one does, but thats just my personal headcanon that they have something very similar to what ghost described, except its not called 'all hallow's eve' but the hunting and the bonfire party is accurate.
> 
> more unintended magical consequences yay!! they wont come into play for a while though, so don't get too excited ;D
> 
> Also, i just started another story b/c i have no self control, and i was also starting to get a bit burned out on this one. Don't worry, i won't ever abandon my fics, but my muse needed something else to fixate on for a bit, so behold my new fic, 'A Not-So-Hollow-Knight' it's a semi-self insert of an MC who got isekai'd as the Hollow Knight, but they loved the game to pieces, and they not about to get locked away in a temple with an angry god in their head, so they set off to change the narrative


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